


Hope's Peak's Brightest And Best

by Instrumentalist



Series: Dangan Ronpa Delinquents [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Dangan Ronpa & Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-14 17:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9196322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Instrumentalist/pseuds/Instrumentalist
Summary: Things are a little crazy. Right now, Nekomaru and Akane are in the dining room having a brawl over who gets the last beer, egged on by Hiyoko, Mahiru, Fuyuhiko, and Peko; Ibuki, Mikan, Chiaki, and Hajime are in the living room getting high, watching Kazuichi drunkenly trying to repair Sonia's TV; Teruteru, Sonia, Gundham, and Nagito are attempting to make dessert for everyone; and Ryota and the Impostor are rapidly finishing off the last of the McNuggets. School starts in 6 hours, and Makoto and his classmates are trying to ignore the various calls and texts they're getting from their upperclassmen. In short, just another night for the 77th and 78th Classes of Hope's Peak Academy. Ms. Yukizome is not going to be happy when she hears about this in the morning...





	1. Starting Off Light

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Party's Starting](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8082379) by [TricksterNag1to](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TricksterNag1to/pseuds/TricksterNag1to). 



> This was inspired by the Chainsmokers AU. For some reason, I am in love with the idea of the 77th and 78th Classes being a bunch of delinquent, partying teenagers. Expect large amounts of fluff. No Monokuma, no Ultimate Despair, just... the joy and the tragedy of daily life at Hope's Peak Academy.
> 
> Disclaimer: This story is inspired by the Chainsmokers AU, but _it is not part of it._ The Inspired By tag is only meant to give credit to TricksterNag1to and the other writers of the Chainsmokers AU.
> 
> Side note: As far as outfits go, nearly everyone is dressed as they were in their debuts, with the exception of Ibuki, who sticks with her Danganronpa 3 outfit. Thus, the 78th Class is dressed in their THH outfits, the 77th Class (minus Ibuki) is dressed as in SDR2, et cetera...

**_Knock knock knock._ **

“Hey! Hajime! Wake up!”

“Uuuuch… who is it?”

“It’s Ibuki! Dude, it’s almost 8, you need to get up!”

“Wha…? What’s at 8?”

“Can Ibuki come in?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure…”

Hajime groaned as Ibuki slammed open the door to his dorm, flooding the small room with light from the hall. “Hajime-chaaan!” she whined, putting her hands on her hips as she watched him bury his face in his pillow. “Come _on,_ man, you gotta get up!”

Hajime grumbled something into his pillow that even Ibuki couldn’t understand.

“Hajime, say that again, without the pillow.”

“Mmf!” He threw his pillow at Ibuki angrily. “Why do I have to get up?!”

“You seriously forgot? Already?!”

“Apparently!”

Ibuki sighed frustratedly. “Hajime, remember? The _party?_ Back-to-school night?”

Hajime stared blankly at her for a moment; then it clicked. “Ahhhh! Shit, sorry!” He hopped out of his bed, smoothing down his shirt and tie. “Do I look okay, at least?”

Ibuki gave him a once-over. “Your hair’s doing that thing, but Ibuki thinks you’ll be okay.”

Hajime scowled, trying to smooth down his hair. “I wish I knew how to fix that.”

“Hmm.”

They exited the dorm and started down the hall. “So, Hajime, did you just, like, go straight to your bed after therapy?” Ibuki asked bluntly.

“Yeah, sort of,” he mumbled.

“You’re a mess, Hajime,” she groaned. “Try to be awake for the party, okay? It’s no fun if you zonk out in the middle of the action.”

“I’ll try not to.”

“And I _know_ that you’ll use your girlfriend as an excuse to blob out on the couch, so I’m keeping my eyes on _both_ of you tonight!” she warned. “You are both not allowed to do your usual stuff until you’ve had at least a _couple_ of drinks, and have hung out with the rest of us for a few hours!”

“Wait, Ibuki, how long are we having this party for?”

“It’s a sleepover, Hajime-chan!” she beamed. “We’re all staying the night and going back on Sunday!”

Hajime nearly choked. “Wait—Ibuki—isn’t tonight Friday?”

“Uh-huh! Why?”

Hajime felt the blood drain from his face. “You mean… this is a _double sleepover party?”_

“Hell yeah it is!” Ibuki crowed. “One night where it’ll be just us, then on Saturday the freshies show up!”

“Wait, wait, Ibuki—”

“It’s gonna be _so great,_ Hajime!”

“Ibuki, the _freshmen_ are going to be there too?!”

“Yeah! This is our welcoming party for them!” She leaned in close to Hajime’s ear. “But between you and me, it was also the perfect excuse to spend the weekend at Sonia’s house!”

“Ibuki, does Sonia _know_ this?”

“Totally! She suggested it in the first place!”

“Which part, the freshmen or the double sleepover?”

“The freshmen, obviously! Sonia’s been _dying_ to meet them.”

“Then does she know about tonight?”

“—Yyyyyeah!”

Hajime groaned. “Ibuki, don’t tell me…”

“It’ll be fiiine!” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “Sonia loves a good party as much as the rest of us!”

“Ibuki, you _told me—”_

“That’s why it’s so perfect! Ibuki knew Sonia was planning the sleepover on Saturday, so Ibuki told everyone else to come on Friday! Besides, Friday night is the _best_ night to start a party!”

“But Ibuki, has anyone warned Sonia about this?”

Ibuki frowned for a moment as she tried to remember. “Um… Ibuki doesn’t know. But everyone is going, so someone probably told her.”

“Ibuki, the second we get there, I am throwing you under the bus.”

“What?! Hajime-chaaan!”

“You lied by omission, Ibuki, that’s not okay!”

“It’s fine, Hajime! It’s one night, what’s the big deal?”

“A lot happens in one night, Ibuki! Remember the party we had over Christmas break last year? I recall no fewer than _three_ hookups that became long-term things!”

“Pffft, whaaat? Name them!”

He counted them off on his fingers. “Mahiru and Hiyoko reached second base in the closet; Nekomaru and Akane got _way_ too into our game of Spin-the-Bottle; and that was _also_ the night that you and _Mikan—”_

“Whoooaaaaaa-kay there, Hajime!” Ibuki said loudly, face turning bright red. “That was then! This is now! What’s the harm in showing up one day early?”

“I can think of a lot of things,” he muttered.

“Oh, come on, Hajime-chan, it’ll be _fun!”_

“I’ll believe it when Sonia says she’s fine with it,” he told her.

* * *

They rounded the corner onto Sonia’s property. “I see party lights, Hajime!” Ibuki said excitedly.

“Yeah, I see them too,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear.”

“Give it a rest, Hajime!” Ibuki sighed. “Ibuki’s not worried, why are you worried?”

“You’re never worried, Ibuki, you’re always sure everything will be fine.”

“Because it’s true! Everything will be just fine!”

They ascended the marble steps to the door. “Here’s hoping,” Hajime said, tensing up as he grabbed the brass knocker.

_Knock knock knock knock._

A few seconds later, Sonia appeared at the door, smiling brightly. “Hajime! Ibuki! Welcome back!”

“Hi, Sonia-chan!” Ibuki grinned. “Okay, Hajime says you’re gonna be mad about the whole double sleepover thing, but I say you’re _not._ Which is it?”

Sonia laughed airily. “Oh, no, I’m not mad! In fact, I’m rather glad! My parents left for Norway on Wednesday, and it’s been quite lonely here! I’m glad we decided to extend the party to encompass Friday night and Saturday morning as well!” She tilted her head. “Although, I am curious, whose idea was it to spread the news that it would start tonight?”

Hajime pointed wordlessly at Ibuki, who tried her best not to look guilty.

“Well, in that case, thank you, Ibuki! This was a wonderful idea!”

Hajime’s jaw dropped.

“HA!” Ibuki laughed. “See, Hajime-chan?! I told you she wasn’t mad!”

“Hey!”

“Although—”

Both of them jerked to a stop.

“I do wish you would inform _me_ of these changes before telling everyone else,” Sonia said. “It would make things less convoluted.”

Hajime smirked at Ibuki. “See, Ibuki- _chan?_ It pays to jump the gun.”

Ibuki looked down at her feet guiltily. “Sorry, Sonia-chan…”

“It’s alright, Ibuki!” Sonia smiled. “Just let me know first next time!” She gestured inside. “Come inside! You’re the first to arrive!”

* * *

By about 8:30, three more people had shown up: Mahiru, Hiyoko, and Nagito. Sonia had broken out the alcohol from the liquor cabinet, and the party started to get off the ground.

“We have a large assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for everybody here!” Sonia announced. “All the liquors will be on this table, all the beers are in this cooler, and all the wine is downstairs in the cellar!”

“Who drinks _wine_ under the age of 35?” Hiyoko snarked.

“I hear that Teruteru’s a big fan,” Ibuki grinned slyly.

“Teruteru? _Wine?”_

“Cooking sherry, probably?” Hajime guessed.

“Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Mahiru said.

“I say we should get as much beer as we can before Nekomaru and Kazuichi show up,” Nagito suggested. “Otherwise we’ll never get any.”

“Oh, god, that’s true,” Hajime groaned, popping open the cooler. “Here, you guys go at it, I’m not a fan of this stuff.”

“Whaaaa? Hajime-chan doesn’t drink beer?”

“I don’t like the taste!”

Nagito smirked at him. “So you drink hard liquor instead? A sensible choice, Hajime.”

“No, that’s not—! Beer doesn’t get me drunk quickly, so I’d want it to be something I can enjoy before it hits, y’know? Liquor tastes like shit, but at least it gets me drunk in less than an hour!”

“But then you miss the tipsy phase,” Mahiru pointed out, cracking open a can. “You go straight to drunk.”

“What’s so great about tipsy? It’s not enough to be fun!”

“You don’t have to be smashed to have a good time!” Hiyoko sang, taking a big sip from her can.

“Hiyoko, you’re just about the _worst_ person out of all of us to say that.”

“Shut your mouth, Hajime!”

“So, um, before we really begin,” Sonia cut in, “we should decide sleeping arrangements.”

“Oh, of course!” Nagito smacked his hand against his forehead. “We do need to figure those out.”

“Someone should write these down, we’ll forget otherwise,” Mahiru said.

“I’ll take them down,” Hajime offered, pulling out his phone.

“Alright,” Sonia said. “So, I have my room, my parent’s bedroom, and three guest bedrooms. There are also numerous couches around the house, as well as sleeping bags in the basement. All in all, we should have plenty of space tonight.”

“Oh yeah, what about the freshies?” Ibuki asked.

“We should wait ’til tomorrow to figure that out, it’s a bit early to be planning that,” Hajime said. “Plus, we don’t know who likes who in their class yet.”

“Oh yes!” Hiyoko grinned. “We get to play matchmaker with the baby freshies!”

“If it was last year, Hiyoko, that would be even funnier than it is now,” Nagito remarked. Hiyoko responded by stomping on his foot.

“Anyway, tonight’s arrangements,” Hajime prompted. “Who wants who where?”

“Well, I will be in my room, obviously,” Sonia said.

“I’ll take a couch,” Nagito said. “You guys deserve the beds more anyway.”

“Nekomaru and Akane together?” Mahiru offered.

“That seems safe…”

“We can give them the basement, it’ll be fine.”

“Ibuki and Mikan! Ibuki and Mikan!” Ibuki squealed.

Hiyoko cackled with glee. “You wanna sleep with Pig Barf when she’s drunk off her ass?! Have fun!”

“Hey, Mikan-chan is _adorable_ when she’s drunk!”

“She’s also a fucking mess!”

“You and Mikan can take the guest bedroom on the second floor,” Sonia said.

“Sweet!”

“Okay…” Hajime said, looking at the list of people left. “I’m going to go ahead and say we pair the couples?”

“That seems efficient,” Nagito nodded.

“I agree!” Sonia smiled.

“Okay, so that means Hiyoko and Mahiru are together, Gundham will be with Sonia, I’ll be with Chiaki, and Fuyuhiko’s with Peko. That leaves Teruteru, Ryota, Kazuichi, and Ryota’s double. And we still need to figure out the beds and couches.”

“Okay, we’ll stand in for everyone else, and rock-paper-scissors to see who gets the best spots!” Ibuki said.

“Um… sure, that works.”

“Actually, wait a moment,” Nagito said. “There’s five couples, right? And there’s _also_ five beds. So we just need to give the couples designated bedrooms, and the rest of us figure out the couches and sleeping bags!”

“Oh!” Hajime checked his list again. “You’re right. That makes things simpler.”

“Gundham and I already have my room,” Sonia said, “and Ibuki and Mikan have the guest room on the second floor… So, you and Chiaki can take the guest room on the third floor, Hiyoko and Mahiru can have the downstairs guest room, and Fuyuhiko and Peko can sleep in the ground floor guest room!” She smiled happily. “It all works out!”

“And then I guess the singles can duke it out for the couches,” Hajime said. “It’s gonna be awkward when the freshmen show up tomorrow, though…”

“Why?” Mahiru asked.

“Because all the bedrooms will be taken, and most of the couches.”

“Didn’t you hear Sonia say she has sleeping bags?!” Hiyoko said. “God, Hajime, you forget everything!”

“Hey!”

“Wait, guys, we forgot Nekomaru and Akane!”

“Oh, shit, you’re right…”

“Didn’t we agree they can take the basement? Those guys don’t seem the bed type.”

“Yeah, and isn’t there a futon in the basement?”

“Yes, there is!”

Hiyoko smirked triumphantly. “So, we don’t have a problem! Tonight’s figured out, now let’s just get wasted!”

* * *

By 9:30, nearly everyone had shown up. The only absent guests were Ryota, his double, and Chiaki.

Hajime was currently in the middle of the first of many drunken conversations he would have that night. Right now, he was griping with Mahiru, Ibuki, and Mikan about the upcoming school year.

“And like, honestly, why should we give a damn about extracurriculars? They’re _extra!_ We shouldn’t have to take any if we don’t want to!”

“Hear hear!” Mahiru cheered. “Seriously, Hope’s Peak needs to get off our asses about the curriculum requirements. We’re teenagers! We’re supposed to be cultivating our self-image and what we want out of life, not spending every weekday inside a cage of books and teachers!”

“I-I don’t know,” Mikan hiccuped. “The teachers seem nice…”

“Ms. Yukizome is the best teacher ever, but all the others are trash!” Ibuki declared. “I don’t care about history and math and all that shit, Ibuki just wants t’ _play!”_

“For real, right?!” Hajime said. “And don’t get me started on the group therapy!”

“Oh, the group therapy is the actual worst!” Mahiru agreed. “Like, no offense to you guys, but I don’t want to spend every Monday and Friday afternoon in an awkward circle trying to figure out our problems! I wanna be outside, having fun!”

“Group therapy is depressing,” Mikan sighed. “I d-don’t like thinking about a-all the problems we have…”

“Ibuki gets why we have it, but it sucks!” Ibuki huffed. “It’s always so bad because there’s always _somebody_ who’s having a bad day, and usually it’s Hiyoko or Nagito!”

“Hey, Hiyoko’s trying!” Mahiru said.

“I didn’t say she wasn’t, I just mean she’s a lot to deal with sometimes!”

“Okay, just so we’re clear. She is trying!”

“I never said she wasn’t!”

“Just so we’re clear.”

Hajime sighed, tiring quickly of this spat. “Guys, come on. Let’s talk about something else.”

Just then, he felt someone’s warm hands grab his shoulders. He looked up, and smiled when he saw who it was. “Hey there.”

“Hey hey, Hajime.”

Ibuki snickered and stage-whispered, “Get a room!”

“Shut up, Ibuki,” he laughed as Chiaki leaned over for a kiss.

“I could say the same for you and Mikan,” Mahiru said. “You two make them look tame!”

Mikan blushed bright red and hid her face in Ibuki’s shoulder.

“Mahiru isn’t holding back anything, huh?” someone else said.

“Fuck off, Fuyuhiko,” Mahiru snarled, but she was smiling.

Fuyuhiko smiled right back. “I guess I was right! Fuckin’ figures.” He held up an unopened bottle of whiskey. “I snagged this from the folks before I left. You guys want first crack at it?”

“Sure!” Ibuki chirped, trying to get up so she could take the bottle straight from his hand. She had forgotten that Mikan was in her lap, though, and nearly dropped her on the floor. “Eep! Ibuki!”

“Whoa, sorry, Mikan-chan! Ibuki got a little excited!”

“H-How could you f-forget I’m sitting _in your lap?”_

“I got excited!”

Fuyuhiko sniggered. “I’ll get you guys fresh glasses, ‘kay? I’m not about to have your lipstick all over the fuckin’ neck of the bottle!”

“You’re no fun, Fuyuhiko-chan!” Ibuki called after him as he took their glasses and waded back into the crowd.

Chiaki somersaulted over the back of the couch, landing right next to Hajime. “Have I missed much?”

“Not really. We’ve all agreed that Hope’s Peak’s curriculum sucks, and group therapy sucks, and that it’s Ibuki and Mikan who need to get a room.”

“Wait, when did we say that?” Ibuki asked indignantly.

“We didn’t, Ibuki,” Mahiru said. “Hajime’s just being a dick.”

“Okay, you got me,” he chuckled, looking over at Chiaki. “But yeah, that’s about everything so far.”

“Huh.”

Ibuki suddenly straightened up in her seat. “Oh! That’s right!” She pointed at Chiaki. “How much have you had to drink?!”

Chiaki looked a little surprised by her outburst. “Um… I haven’t had any drinks yet.”

“Okay! Mikan-chan, I need to get up so we can get Chiaki-chan properly drunk!”

“W-Why do we need to do that now?” Mikan complained as she moved her legs off of Ibuki.

“Because! If we don’t, she and Hajime are gonna just sit there like a giant blob of—of—lovey-dovey boringness!” Ibuki said. “We need to have fun with them first!” She looked at the coffee table for their drinks, but to her confusion, they had disappeared. “Where’d our drinks go?”

“Fuyuhiko took them, remember?” Mahiru said. “He’s getting us all his whiskey.”

“Oh! Okay!”

She sat back down and pulled Mikan’s legs back up onto her lap. “The second he’s back, Chiaki, I wanna see you take at least _two_ shots!”

“Wait, hold on,” Hajime said. “We don’t know how strong that stuff is yet.”

“So what? It’s whiskey! We’ve had whiskey before!”

“Yeah, but there’s different levels of alcohol—”

“Don’t be a spoilsport, Hajime-chan!” Ibuki whined.

“It’s fine, Hajime,” Chiaki said.

“You sure?” he frowned.

“Yeah. I’ll be okay.”

“Okay, here you punks go!” Fuyuhiko grinned, slamming down their new glasses on the table. “This is pretty strong stuff, but it’s not any stronger than Sonia’s vodka, so you shouldn’t have any problems with it. Make sure you save some for everyone else, and for tomorrow too!”

“Yes, Mama Fuyuhiko,” Ibuki drawled.

“Sh-Shut the fuck up!” Fuyuhiko spat. “I just don’t want you guys finishing all that tonight!”

“I’ll make sure you get it back, Fuyuhiko,” Hajime promised.

“Good. At least _Hajime_ has my back around here.”

He slipped back into the center of the room.

“Alrighty then!” Ibuki cheered. “Shots!”

* * *

A few hours later, it had been decided that a party game was in order. Sonia was taking tallies of the votes.

“I think we should play Spin-the-Bottle!”

“Hiyoko, Spin-the-Bottle is only really fun when you haven’t played it with everyone here.”

“That’s not true! We can still have fun with it!”

“But seriously, like, everyone’s kissed everyone else in this group. It’s not as awkward as it’s supposed to be.”

“Well, I still wanna play!”

“Perhaps we can table Spin-the-Bottle for tomorrow night when the freshmen arrive?”

“Oh, hell yes! Ibuki is on board! That would be hilarious!”

“What?! No way I’m kissing an underclassman!”

“Hiyoko, the whole idea is that it’s uncomfortable when you’re up.”

“Shut up, Nagito! You can’t talk, you have your Ultimate Bullshit Luck fucking things up!”

“It’s not something I control, Hiyoko. It just happens.”

Sonia cleared her throat. “So, I think we’re not playing Spin-the-Bottle tonight?”

“No, we’re not,” Kazuichi said.

“Alright. So, that leaves us with Weird Truth or Dare, Would You Rather, or Never Have I Ever. Who votes for Weird Truth or Dare?”

“Wait, what do we mean by _Weird_ Truth or Dare?” Ryota asked.

“It means we’re going fuckin’ crazy with it,” Fuyuhiko explained. “We’re skipping the kiddie stuff at the beginning and going straight to the fun part. Which I am _totally_ voting for!”

About half the class raised their hands. Sonia took a quick count. “I count… eight! That’s half the class! Weird Truth or Dare it is! Let’s get pumped, everybody!”

“This is gonna be something,” Hajime whispered to Chiaki.

“It’ll be interesting,” she agreed, smiling widely at him. “Don’t make me do anything _too_ weird.”

“Nothing that these weirdos wouldn’t come up with,” he promised, pecking her on the cheek.

“Who’s goin’ first?!” Akane whooped.

“We should start with Peko!” Teruteru said. “She’s sitting at the head of the circle, she should go first!”

“Wait, wait, hold on,” Peko said, adjusting her glasses. “Am I the one picking someone, or the one _doing_ something?”

“She should pick,” Chiaki said. “That’s quicker.”

“Alright… Tanaka: truth or dare?”

Gundham gave her his trademark glare. “Truth.”

“Very well.” Peko thought for a moment about what to ask him. “Do you tuck your ‘Four Dark Devas of Destruction’ into bed _every_ night, or only on the weekends?”

The class started giggling as Gundham’s face turned red. He hid his mouth under his scarf, and finally muttered, “…Every night.”

The laughter increased. “Good one, Peko!” Fuyuhiko cackled. “Get him where it hurts!”

Gundham blushed deeper and waited for the laughter to stop. “…Kazuichi Souda. Truth or dare?”

Kazuichi gulped. “Um… uh… dare!”

Gundham grinned mischievously. “I dare _you…_ to insult Sonia Nevermind to her face!”

“Whoa!” Hajime laughed as everybody gasped. Kazuichi looked like he’d just been punched in the stomach, and Sonia was trying very hard not to laugh at his expression.

“Oh, fuck me…” Kazuichi groaned, and faced Sonia, looking very apologetic. “Miss Sonia… I… I think your hair looks awful!”

Sonia couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. She let out the biggest laugh out of all of them, grabbing onto the table beside her for support. Kazuichi hid himself under his beanie, beet red. “Is it too much to ask for someone to just use that one app until we can take the super-personal stuff?”

“I’ve got that app,” Chiaki said, pulling out her phone. “Extreme mode?”

“Hell yes we want Extreme mode!” Fuyuhiko said.

“Okay… Alright, Kazuichi, pick someone.”

“Okay…” He pulled his beanie back into place and scanned the circle. “Um… Mahiru! Truth or dare?”

“Truth!” she said automatically. “One hundred percent truth.”

“Okay…” Chiaki said. “Would you ever have a threesome?”

A chorus of “Oooooo”s went up from around the circle. Mahiru giggled drunkenly, then said, “Yes, I _would_ have a threesome!”

“Care to tell us with _who?”_ Teruteru asked, nose starting to bleed.

“No!” she said, smacking him upside the head. “Keep that fantasy to yourself!” She turned back to the circle, and immediately said, “Hiyoko! Truth or dare?”

“Dare!” Hiyoko said. “And make sure it’s something _good!”_

Chiaki laughed a little as she pressed the DARE button. “Okay! You have to make out for twenty seconds, with the first person of the _opposite_ sex to your left!”

Hiyoko looked to her left, and everybody roared with laughter as the colour drained from her face. “No! _No!”_

Teruteru grinned widely. “You have to do it, Saionji!”

“I refuse! No! No!”

“Hiyoko, you have to do it,” Mahiru giggled devilishly. “It’s a dare!”

“It’s only twenty seconds, Hiyoko!” Nagito said. “Just do it now and get it over with!”

Hiyoko clenched her fists. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! …Fine!”

She scooted over to Teruteru and pressed her lips against his.

It was the most hilarious twenty seconds the rest of them had ever seen. Hiyoko was so clearly _not enjoying this,_ but Teruteru was so clearly _enjoying this too much._ Mahiru, sitting right next to them, was pretty sure he was trying to use tongue, but Hiyoko was pushing back as hard as she could. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close so she couldn’t escape before the twenty seconds were up—and Chiaki “accidentally” let the clock run over by ten seconds before announcing, “Okay, Hiyoko, you’re good!”

Hiyoko pushed Teruteru away with all her might, shouting, _“BLECH!”_ She quickly scooted back to her spot and yelled, “Somebody get me my fucking vodka! I need to wash my mouth out!”

Mahiru gave her her glass, and Hiyoko actually swished it through her mouth before she swallowed it. “Jesus fucking Christ! Not even vodka tastes as bad as you do, you pig!”

“I loved every second!” Teruteru sighed happily.

“Okay, that’s it! Chef Pig, truth or dare!”

“Dare me, baby!” he challenged with a grin.

“This stuff is too tame for Teruteru,” Chiaki sighed as she pressed DARE. “…Take any piece of clothing off the person across from you.”

Teruteru looked across the circle at… Ibuki. “I can work with this!” he said gleefully.

“Wait wait wait hold on!” Ibuki said, holding her hands up defensively as Teruteru started to advance on her. “How long do I have to do this for?”

“It doesn’t say,” Chiaki said.

“I guess it’s until the end of the game,” Hajime supposed.

“Ibuki doesn’t like this dare!” Ibuki said. Teruteru was halfway across the circle, taking his sweet time.

“The problem with this dare is that it supposes Teruteru is not Teruteru,” Peko said. “Unfortunately for Ibuki, he is.”

“This seems a little non-consensual to me…” Ryota said quietly, wringing his hands.

“It wouldn’t be Truth or Dare if it didn’t get a little weird!” Akane laughed.

“Got that right!” Nekomaru grinned, giving Akane a high-five.

Teruteru finally reached Ibuki. “Hmm… what to remove, what to remove…?”

“Teruteru-chan, you’re being mega-creepy right now!”

“The shirt? The skirt? The tie?”

“Go with the tie, go with the tie!”

Teruteru scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll take… the shirt!”

Ibuki groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Okay…” She started to unbutton her shirt.

“Wait, Ibuki!” Chiaki said. “I hate to say it, but the dare says that Teruteru has to take off your shirt.”

Ibuki clenched her teeth, hard, and put her hands behind her back. “Okay. Go for it.”

Just like with his approach, Teruteru took longer than necessary to take off Ibuki’s shirt, especially when he reached her chest.

“Teruteru, you’re only taking off her shirt,” Peko said. “Do not try to go further.”

“Why, of course not!” Teruteru said with false innocence. “I would _never_ do something like that!”

“Y-you would,” Mikan whispered, too quietly for anyone but Ibuki to hear.

After a very long minute, Teruteru finally took off Ibuki’s shirt. There was an awkward silence as he gave her her shirt, looking very pleased with himself, and walked back to his spot, which was broken by Nagito. “I dunno. Not as awkward as when I kissed Hajime.”

That got everybody to laugh, and the tension dissipated. “I like your bra, Ibuki,” Akane said.

“Oh, thanks!” Ibuki smiled. “Ibuki got it at the mall down the road from school. Only thirty bucks!”

“Hey, Ibuki, it’s your turn to pick someone,” Ryota’s double said.

“Oh! Right! I totally forgot about that!” She looked at each person in the circle critically, then pointed and said, “Hajime! Truth or dare?”

Hajime thought about it for a second. “…I’ll go with truth this round.”

“Alright…” Chiaki said. “…No, we know that… We know that too… Here’s one! Would you ever hook up with someone for money?”

Hajime and the others laughed. “No!” he said. “I’m going to Hope’s Peak for a reason: my parents are loaded! I don’t need to hook up with anyone for some more!”

“What if you were broke?” Mahiru asked, leaning in closer to hear his answer.

“If I was broke?… Nah. I’m taken,” he said, hugging Chiaki. “I mean, if I was told I could hook up with _her_ for money, then hell yes I would.”

“Well, that’s simply human nature!” Sonia chortled.

“Okay Hajime, who do you pick?” Nagito asked. Hajime tried not to laugh when he saw the boy’s obvious attempt to send him telepathic _PICK ME_ rays.

“I pick… Chiaki. Truth or dare?”

Nagito sighed heavily. “Oh well. I tried.”

Chiaki bit her lip. “Dare.” She pressed the button, and her eyebrows shot up straight into her bangs. “Oh… wow.”

“Is it good?” Fuyuhiko asked, leaning in.

“Um… I have to unclasp a girl’s bra or unbutton a guy’s pants,” Chiaki said.

The class let out a long “Ooooooo…”

Chiaki looked around, trying to decide on who she would subject to embarrassment. “Um…” Suddenly, she grinned mischievously. “I know!”

And she reached under her shirt and unclasped her own bra.

“There!”

“…I don’t get it,” Akane said.

“She unclasped her own bra,” Hiyoko said. “Even though that’s _not_ what the dare was!”

“It said to unclasp a girl’s bra or unbutton a guy’s pants,” Chiaki said smugly. “I’m a girl. I unclasped a girl’s bra.”

“But that’s such a cheat!”

“What do you expect from the Ultimate Gamer?” Nagito chuckled.

Hiyoko groaned. “Somebody, tape his trash mouth shut!”

Chiaki ignored her. “Nagito, truth or dare?”

Nagito smirked at Hajime and said, “Dare.”

“…Ah, we’ve finished the Extreme deck,” Chiaki sighed. “Let me find a good one in one of the other decks…”

There was a brief silence as she flipped through the other decks.

“Okay. Give someone your phone and let them send a text to anybody in your contacts.”

Nagito blanched. “Oh no. I just added the freshmen’s contact info to my phone!”

The circle burst into raucous laughter. “Yes!” Hajime crowed. “This is the perfect way to introduce him to them all!”

“Who should do it?” Kazuichi asked, rubbing his hands together in gleeful anticipation.

“It doesn’t matter, we’re all gonna just tell them what to write!” Fuyuhiko laughed.

“Hajime should do it!” Nekomaru said. “He knows Nagito’s passcode, right?”

Reluctantly, Nagito handed his phone to Hajime. “Just don’t make it bad.”

“No promises,” Hajime giggled.

Everybody gathered around Hajime as he unlocked Nagito’s phone. “Does anyone know the names of the freshmen off the top of their heads?”

“I know the Ultimate Lucky Student is Makoto Naegi,” Sonia said.

“We should send a text to him!” Mikan giggled. “The Ultimate Lucky Students!”

“Yeeeessss!” Nekomaru roared. “Do it, Hajime!”

“Okay, okay, hold on a damn sec!” Hajime laughed as he found Makoto in Nagito’s contacts. “Oh noooooo! They haven’t sent any messages to each other yet!”

“This will truly be an event to witness!” Gundham cackled.

“Okay, what should we text him?”

“Something about hope!” Ibuki said.

“Yes!” Akane agreed. “Somethin’ about how Makoto’s his hope or somethin’!”

“Waitwaitwait, I’ve got it, guys,” Fuyuhiko said, trying not break down into drunken laughter as he spoke. “Send him something like, ‘When I say ‘your hope’, I’m actually talking about your dick’!”

Nagito looked like he was about to die of embarrassment. “Guys, I really don’t think that’s the greatest—”

“Just tell him it was a prank, bro!” Nekomaru laughed. “He’ll understand!”

“But I don’t want his first impression—”

“He’s a freshman!” Mahiru said dismissively. “He should be worried about _your_ impression of _him!”_

“Okay… just promise you’ll tell him it’s a prank when you’re done.”

“You can tell him when we finish,” Hajime said. “Okay guys, here’s what we’ll send: Makoto, your hope makes me so happy when I think about it. It shines so brightly, I can’t help but be in awe of how _big_ it is.” Some snickers from the others. “Please, let your hope _grow_ as _large_ as possible. It is something _everyone_ should see. Sincerely, Nagito. P.S. When I say ‘hope’, I’m actually talking about your dick.”

Everybody but Nagito laughed, who was too busy trying to hide under his hoodie.

“Sound good? Yeah?” Everybody nodded. “Aaaand… sent and delivered!” He handed the phone to Nagito. “Okay, we’re done. Go tell him we were just fucking with you.”

Nagito sprang for his phone and feverishly typed out his apology text. “Okay… Okay, we’re good. We’re good.” He laughed, but out of relief, not amusement. “Okay…”

“Hey, Nagito…” Mikan said. “Are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, yes, I’m fine,” he said. “It’s all good.”

But Mikan’s question had gotten Hajime’s attention. “Wait, Nagito, seriously, are you alright?”

“I’m okay, Hajime. Just… the heat of the moment. Let’s get back to our game!”

Hajime frowned, but didn’t say anything as the game restarted.

* * *

Around 3 AM, everybody had either drunk themselves to sleep or were about to go to sleep. Hajime found himself on gurney duty with Sonia and Nekomaru, carrying their sleeping friends to their rooms or couches. He was carrying Chiaki to their room when Sonia, who was supporting Ryota, asked, “Hajime? Do you think we— _hic_ — went too far with that text we sent from Nagito’s phone?”

“…I don’t know,” he admitted. “Nagito said he was fine, but… I don’t know.” He laughed awkwardly. “Besides, we’re probably… we’re probably going to forget a lot of tonight by the time we all wake up.”

Sonia didn’t look entirely satisfied with that answer. “I hope you’re right. I don’t— _hic_ —like the thought of Nagito being hurt by a prank.”

“Me neither,” he agreed.

“Well… until the morning!” she said, waving with her free hand.

“Sleep well,” he smiled.

“You as well!”


	2. The Next Morning, and the Arrival of the 78th Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments are my lifeblood and I will never tire of reading them.

When he woke up, he didn’t open his eyes straight away. Instead, he did a mental once-over of his whole body to check for any pain or other issues, but thankfully, he seemed to have dodged a hangover this time. He hoped Chiaki would be able to say the same.

That said… he didn’t remember anything past… anything past Teruteru taking off Ibuki’s shirt. What time was that? About midnight? He knew that they had done other stuff, but he couldn’t call it to mind. Well, knowing them, it was probably stupid stuff, but nothing too crazy.

Chiaki was still snoozing away, rolled up in the blankets like a burrito, leaving only her head visible. He laughed to himself as he stared at her, enjoying how cute she looked when she was so sound asleep. God… he was really lucky to be her boyfriend.

He pulled himself out of bed, stretched out his stiff muscles, and made his way to the kitchen to get something to eat.

When he got there, he saw Sonia and Ibuki were both awake. Well, Sonia was awake, at least. Ibuki looked like she’d fallen back asleep in her seat in front of the island in the center of the room.

“Ah, Hajime!” Sonia greeted him, before coughing rather abrasively. “You’re awake! Might I interest you in some—,” another cough, “—excuse me, some breakfast?”

“Sonia, your voice sounds shot,” he said as he sat down next to Ibuki.

“Yes, I know,” she said. “I think I must have done a lot of shouting last night.”

“Oh, you blacked out too?” he smiled wryly. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I believe… we were about to begin Weird Truth or Dare,” she said. “And then I remember carrying— _a-HEM—_ excuse me, carrying Mikan to her room some time later. I have no idea what time that was. I recall you were helping Kazuichi to his couch.”

“Huh. Last thing I remember was when Teruteru took Ibuki’s shirt off—”

_“What?”_ Sonia gasped.

“Teruteru got ‘dared’ to take off one article of Ibuki’s clothing,” he explained. “Not really a _dare_ for him, though.”

Ibuki suddenly jerked to attention in her seat. “Ibuki’s awake! Ibuki’s listening, promise!”

“Whoa, hey, slow down!” Hajime chuckled, steadying Ibuki as she swayed on her stool. “We’re not at school, we’re at Sonia’s.”

Ibuki frowned in confusion. “Sonia-chan’s?… Huh?…”

“Remember, we’re at the back-to-school party?”

“…Oh! Oh yeah!” she said, a little too loudly. “Right, the super-cool double sleepover! Ibuki remembers!”

“Ibuki, that’s the third time you’ve fallen back asleep and forgotten where you are,” Sonia said. “Are you _sure_ you should be awake right now?”

“Wha? Yeah, Ibuki’s fiiine!” Ibuki said flippantly. “This happens all th’time!”

“You must’ve had a _lot_ to drink, Ibuki,” Hajime said.

“Yeah, Ibuki likes her drinks!” she giggled. “Th’angover is super un-cool, though!”

“You’ve got a hangover? Anything we can get you?” he asked.

“Uhhhhhhh… jus’ some headache stuff, maybe. Ibuki’s hangovers sort of go away on their own.”

“I’ll find some aspirin,” Sonia said. “In the meantime, there is plenty to eat in the refrigerator and the pantry! Please, help yourselves!”

She disappeared upstairs to grab some aspirin, just as Nagito entered the kitchen. “Aha. Did she leave when she heard me coming?”

“She’s going to get Ibuki some aspirin,” Hajime said. “How are you doing, Nagito?”

“I’m a little hungover too,” he admitted, running a hand through his hair. “Last night must’ve been a good one.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was. Did you black out or anything?”

“Ah… I feel like I must have at some point, but I don’t know when, exactly,” Nagito frowned, pressing his fingers to his temple. “I remember we were voting on a game to play…”

“That was around midnight,” Hajime said. “We ended up playing Weird Truth or Dare.”

“Ah! That was it.” Nagito laughed awkwardly. “Well, that explains this text I supposedly sent a little after that.”

He showed Hajime his phone, and suddenly, Hajime remembered. “Oh! Oh, that’s right! You were dared to give us your phone and let us send a text to someone!”

“And it seems you chose to text the poor Ultimate Lucky Student of the freshman class,” Nagito chuckled. “He must have been very confused!”

“Hey, Nagito…” Hajime said, grabbing Nagito’s sleeve.

“Yes, Hajime?”

“I… I remember you were a little freaked out by that when we did it. Are you okay that we did that?”

“Of course! It’s impossible to be mad at you, especially when we were all so obviously intoxicated!” Nagito laughed heartily. “I must have overreacted too. You know how it is with heavy drinking and being unhappy.”

“Yeah, I do,” Hajime sighed. “But we’re okay?”

“Don’t worry, Hajime. I forgive you guys.”

“Okay… Thanks, Nagito.”

“Sure thing, Hajime.”

They sat together in silence for a few seconds.

“Hey, Hajime.”

“Yeah?”

“Am I remembering correctly that at some point, Teruteru took Ibuki’s shirt off?”

“Oh! Oh my god, yeah, you are.”

_“What?”_ Ibuki thundered.

* * *

 “It is nearly 3 PM, everyone!” Sonia announced as loudly as she could without having a coughing fit. “The 78th Class will be here soon! Make sure you are presentable!”

“Why should we give a fuck about being presentable?” Fuyuhiko asked grumpily. “We’re gonna be giving them the whole nine yards tonight!”

“Yes, I understand, but at least _act_ like we aren’t about to corrupt their innocence the minute it is 8 PM!” Sonia huffed. “I’d like us to get to know them a little before we start getting turnt!”

Hajime nearly choked on his orange juice when she said “turnt”.

“Sonia, did you really just?” Ibuki laughed.

“I’m sorry?” Sonia said, tilting her head.

“It was funny when you said ‘turnt’,” Nagito explained.

“Don’t explain the joke, dumbass!” Hiyoko barked.

“Ah, my apologies!”

A knock came at the front door. “Our first guest is here!” Sonia exclaimed, eyes lighting up. “Everybody, please be on your best behaviour, I want to make _good impressions!”_

“This should be interesting,” Peko remarked.

“I-I’ve heard a lot about them, b-but I’ve never actually met them,” Mikan said. “I-I’m excited!”

“This is gonna _rock!”_ Ibuki cheered.

“Yeah!” Akane agreed. “We’re gonna have a great time!”

“That’s the spirit!” Nekomaru boomed. “Let’s have some good food, good laughs, and some good _shits!”_

“Um, maybe skip the last one,” Hajime muttered to Chiaki as they approached the front door.

“I don’t think they’ll mind that,” she laughed sleepily, stealing a quick kiss before Sonia opened the door.

The door opened, and a group of three freshmen stood on the other side. They all looked radically different, but, then again, they _were_ Ultimates. The one on the left had very long pink hair and wore a purple blazer over a white shirt and black skirt, and for some reason, was wearing black gloves over her hands. The one on the center had on a white uniform that looked rather militaristic, and had very large eyebrows. The one on the right was easily the tallest, although how much of that was his enormous hairstyle was uncertain. He was also very skinny, and for some reason, he was wearing his jacket over his shoulders, letting the sleeves hang emptily at his sides.

“Greetings!” the boy in the uniform said loudly. “My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and I am the Ultimate Moral Compass! It is a pleasure to meet you!”

As he and Sonia exchanged greetings, Hajime noticed a few of his classmates exchange looks. Mainly, the ones most looking forward to getting wasted tonight. “That doesn’t look like a good mix,” he whispered to Chiaki.

“They’ll do something, you know it,” she whispered back.

“Yeah. I just hope it’s nothing serious, otherwise we might get in a lot of trouble.”

“They” split off and went into the dining room, probably to discuss how to make sure Ultimate Moral Compass wouldn’t confiscate all the booze, or possibly even call the police to report their underage drinking. Hajime tried to put that thought out of his mind as Kiyotaka came to him and shook his hand.

“Hello! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru!”

“Hi there, Kiyotaka,” Hajime smiled. “My name is Hajime Hinata, and this is Chiaki Nanami.”

“A pleasure to meet you both!” Kiyotaka said earnestly, shaking Chiaki’s hand. “I hope that we can become friends so we may further our education together!”

Yep. He was a goner.

“I hope so too,” Hajime lied.

And he was gone. Obviously a guy who liked to take his time.

The girl with the lavender hair approached them next. “Hello. My name is Kyouko Kirigiri. I’m the Ultimate Detective.”

He was starting to get a little worried now. An Ultimate _Detective?_ Hopefully she would never be called on by Hope’s Peak to snitch on them if Kiyotaka said anything, otherwise they would be _screwed._ A lot of them were not exactly great at hiding their guilt to begin with; having _her_ on their tails would ensure instant punishment from the administration.

“Nice to meet you, Kyouko. I’m Hajime Hinata, and this is Chiaki Nanami.”

“A pleasure.” She looked at both of them, scanned the room critically for a moment, then said in a voice only they could hear, “If anyone intends to consume any alcohol tonight, Kiyotaka _will_ be contacting the school about it.”

Hajime felt the blood drain from his face. “Good to know…”

Kyouko left them alone, and he looked at Chiaki uneasily. “This goes one of two ways, and I don’t like either of them.”

“What do you think will happen?” Chiaki asked.

“Either _they’re_ gonna kick him out somehow, which would suck,” he said, “or they’ll find a way to get _him_ drunk too, which would _really_ suck. I don’t see this ending well.”

“We’ll have to talk to Sonia,” she agreed. “Those guys could get us _all_ in trouble.”

“Yeah. Chamber of Secrets-style.”

“Huh?”

“Y’know, how Ron and Harry got in trouble before the school year even officially started, because they… never mind, point is, yeah, getting busted before school’s started would be bad.”

“Ms. Yukizome would be really pissed.”

“Group therapy would be all about the dangers of alcohol.”

“Which is…” she interrupted herself with a huge yawn, “kind of funny, because we’ve already seen some of those.”

The tall guy with the crazy hair came up to them. “Hey guys!” he said cheerily. “My name’s Yasuhiro Hagakure! I’m the Ultimate Clairvoyant!”

Okay, good, they weren’t _all_ tailor-fit to rat them out tonight.

“Nice to meet you, Yasuhiro,” Hajime said. “I’m Hajime Hinata, and this is Chiaki Nanami.”

“Cool! What are your guys’ talents?”

“She’s the Ultimate Gamer, and I’m the Ultimate Hope, or so they tell me.”

“That’s pretty cool!” Yasuhiro nodded. “If you ever want your fortune read, lemme know! I can predict your future with thirty percent accuracy!”

With that, he shuffled off to greet the others, leaving Hajime and Chiaki more than a little confused.

“…Thirty percent?” Hajime repeated.

“I guess clairvoyancy isn’t very accurate at all, then,” Chiaki said, yawning again.

“I guess not…”

* * *

The rest of the freshmen slowly trickled in. They all left a pretty big impression at first, but after a little while Hajime had trouble keeping track of all of them. Like with the 77th Class, there was absolutely no correlation between their talents, which meant you still had to go by name, and when everyone in the class has a big personality, it made it that much harder to differentiate them.

The only exception was Makoto Naegi, Ultimate Lucky Student. Hajime had figured he would have no trouble remembering him, since he was the poor kid they’d texted last night with that… unusual message, but once they met in the flesh, it was even easier to remember him, because, well… he was so _average_ in comparison, he actually stood out!

He had been the last person to arrive, right around 5, coming in looking like some random kid off the block. Everybody else was just about to sit down for an early dinner. Sonia practically jumped up out of her seat when she saw him. “Ah! Our last guest!” She ran around the table and jumped directly in front of him. “You must be Makoto Naegi! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“U-Um, yeah, that’s me,” he said, shocked by her sudden appearance no further than a few inches from his nose. “Sorry I’m late, I got a bit turned around on the way here.”

“Do not worry, you haven’t missed anything of importance! We are just about to start dinner!”

“Oh! That’s good timing!”

“Some might say _lucky,_ even!” she winked.

Makoto looked confused for a second, then laughed awkwardly. “Oh, yeah! Because of my luck, I get it.”

Sonia smiled sweetly. “Please, come inside, join us!”

Makoto ended up sitting between Hajime and Nagito, looking a little overwhelmed by the number of people at the table. “This is a really big table.”

“Yeah, it is,” Hajime smiled. “Sonia loves a good party, so she got as much big furniture as she could.”

“Everything is on the big side when it comes to us, you’ll find,” Nagito said. “Big tables, big antics, big talents…” He trailed off, looking like he’d just remembered something unpleasant.

Funny, Hajime had a feeling he was remembering the same thing. “Oh, by the way—sorry about that weird text we sent you last night. We were playing a rowdy game of Truth or Dare and Nagito took a dare.”

Makoto’s face turned noticeably red. “Oh, th-that’s okay! I figured it was something like that.”

“Yeah, sorry, again. It was late and we were all sort of just… going nuts. Crazy stuff happened.”

“It’s okay, really.”

“Okay. Good.”

Teruteru came in at that point, carting along a large trolley of food. “Dinner is served, everyone! Dig in!”

He placed the silver platters on the table and whipped off the covers, revealing some of the best food Hajime had ever seen. Today, it seemed like Teruteru had gone for a little bit of everything, because he couldn’t name half the stuff he was putting in front of them. It all looked amazing though, and he wasted no time in filling his plate as much as he could. “Teruteru is the Ultimate Chef,” he told Makoto as he spooned a large helping of dumplings onto Chiaki’s plate. “He makes the greatest food you’ll ever have.”

“Just don’t trust anything he only gives you,” Chiaki warned. “He’s got a bit of a thing for slipping stuff into people’s drinks and things like that.”

“O-Oh, really?” Makoto said, looking a little uneasy as he stole a quick glance at his soda.

“We keep him in check, don’t worry,” Nagito reassured him. “We always make sure someone else is in the kitchen with him when he cooks. Although, the last time something actually happened, that wasn’t his fault.”

“Was that the time that Hiyoko—uh, added one of his pet projects into the food?” Fuyuhiko asked, catching his tongue before he could say too much.

“Yeah, that was the one,” Hajime nodded. “Even Teruteru doesn’t take things that far.” He grabbed a crescent roll out of a basket that was being passed around. “But you don’t wanna hear about what he does when you’re eating. You’re probably more interested in hearing about Hope’s Peak, right?”

“Um—yeah, a little,” Makoto said. “I mean, I’ve heard a lot about it online, but that’s mostly publicity and stuff like that. Just sort of, like, who’s attending, who’s on the staff, y’know.”

“Well, we can tell you all about the stuff they don’t mention online,” Nagito said. “It’s actually pretty everyday, once you ignore the fact that you’re surrounded by Ultimates—of course, I’d never be able to ignore such shining beacons of hope as my classmates… You still have your core classes, electives, extracurriculars, things like that. The biggest difference I can think of is that there’s one class period every day devoted solely to studying and developing your talent.”

“How does that work?”

“It depends on your talent,” Hajime said. “Nagito’s the Ultimate Lucky Student of our class, so he spends his period usually trying different games of chance, or sometimes he’ll go do something incredibly stupid and come out without a scratch.”

“Hope’s Peak came to the conclusion that there’s many kinds of Ultimate Luck a while ago,” Nagito said with a grin. “My luck is one-of-a-kind: I never know _how_ it will act, but it’s proven to be reliable and consistent. Your luck is probably different somehow, and that period will be when you and the teachers figure it out.”

“Huh. That’s actually pretty useful.”

“And that’s just Nagito’s talent,” Hajime said. “Everybody at this table will spend that period doing research into their talents. Like, for instance, Chiaki. When she’s not sleeping, she spends the period completing the toughest games the teachers can throw at her. Fuyuhiko there, he does a full hour of hands-on leadership for his yakuza. Ibuki just plays and plays until the period is over, and the teachers take notes. They take notes on everything you do each time you go in there.”

“What’s your talent?” Makoto asked.

“That’s… a difficult subject,” Hajime said. “I’m not entirely allowed to tell anyone, not specifics. The most I can say is that I was admitted as the Ultimate Hope.”

“The Ultimate Hope?” Makoto repeated. “What does that mean?”

“I can’t tell you, unfortunately. It’s being kept top-secret by the administration.”

“Do you take the same class period as everyone else?”

“I… do, in a way. I have that period, but they determined that the testing environment they usually use for us wasn’t conducive to getting accurate results, or at least that’s what they said. Sometimes they do that. Not every talent can be quantified the same way.”

“There’s also bi-weekly g-group therapy sessions for each grade,” Mikan said, changing the subject. “Mandatory attendance, every Monday and Friday a-afternoon.”

“Yeah, it turns out being a fuckin’ Ultimate usually comes with some sort of mental bullshit,” Fuyuhiko said. “Supposedly, I have a Napoleon complex, whatever the hell that means.”

“I-It means—”

“I don’t really wanna know, either!” he snapped.

“Eek! I’m sorry!”

“Hey, are you upsetting Mikan-chan?” Ibuki scowled at Fuyuhiko.

“Oh, come on!” Fuyuhiko groaned. “I can’t say _anything_ around her!”

As they started to bicker in earnest, Hajime leaned in and said in a low voice, “Yeah, there’s a lot of little things that set everyone off. It’ll probably be a similar case in your grade, too.”

“Our school therapist is well-trained,” Peko commented, ignoring her master’s argument with Ibuki. “There was an Ultimate Therapist employed at Hope’s Peak some time ago, but they left for unknown reasons before we were accepted.”

“The current therapist is also our homeroom teacher,” Nagito said. “Ms. Yukizome. She was the Ultimate Housekeeper.”

“Basically that means she checks up on us every day and makes sure we aren’t doing anything that’ll get us in trouble,” Hajime said. “But she’s also cool. She likes to organize class events and things like that.”

Mikan looked like she wanted to add something, but Fuyuhiko and Ibuki were still going strong, cutting off her attempts to contribute.

“Look, I’m not saying your girlfriend is getting in my way, I’m just saying she takes insults too seriously!” 

“Um—”

“She’s working on it, but you could stand to be less of a jerk to her!

“Als—”

“Why should I have to change myself for other people? I’m not doing anything wrong, why should I fucking change?!”

“An—”

“Ex- _cuse_ me?! Did Ibuki just hear you correctly?!”

“Guys—”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, you heard me loud and fuckin’ clear, you bastard!”

“Young master,” Peko said. 

“Ibuki thinks you’re really being a jackass right now, Fuyuhiko-chan!”

“Don’t fucking ‘Fuyuhiko-chan’ _me—!”_

_“Young master.”_

_“What,_ Peko?!” Fuyuhiko barked.

“I believe Mikan wanted to say something to our classmates across from us.”

Fuyuhiko looked suitably cowed. “Oh. Shit. Sorry, Mikan.”

“I-It’s okay, I should’ve—”

“Hey!” Ibuki cut her off. “Mikan, _no._ Ms. Yukizome’s talked about this, don’t say degrading things about yourself!”

“I-I’m sorry! I—I just wanted to a-add that there will be student council elections in a month or so. F-Freshmen can’t really run for anything important, but you g-get to elect a class representative.”

Makoto looked at his classmates, smiling a little when he saw Kiyotaka. “I, uh, I wonder who we would elect.”

They followed his gaze, and Hajime tried to hide his amusement when he saw Fuyuhiko gag on his food. “Him?! I mean, I guess, but—”

“You’re not about to say what I think you’re about to say, are you, Fuyuhiko?” Nagito smiled.

“Oh, first Mikan, now you too? I can’t say a damn thing around here!”

“I was merely going to reply that Kiyotaka over there is an obvious choice for class representative. He _is_ the Ultimate Moral Compass.”

“Yeah, I fuckin’ remember!” Fuyuhiko snapped.

“Fuyuhiko, don’t be a jerk,” Hajime said. “Nagito was just trying to have a little fun.”

“There are plenty of ways to have fun without fucking with me, y’know!”

“He wasn’t ‘fucking with you’, he was just playing around!”

“There you go again, Hajime, always jumping to his defense when he says his stupid shit!”

“Fuyuhiko, you’re taking this way too personally, just give it a rest!”

“Why am _I_ the one who always has to take a goddamn rest?!”

“Because you’re usually the one who picks a fight about it!”

“If you assholes weren’t so disrespectful all the time, maybe I wouldn’t pick so many fights with you!”

“Oh, _we’re_ the disrespectful ones? Aside from Hiyoko, you’re the one who insults us the most around here!”

_“Don’t compare me to Hiyoko, bastard!”_

“Hey, I heard that!”

Hajime sighed. “You see? Now we’re dragging other people into this too!”

“It ain’t my fault, you’re the one who brought it up!”

Nagito leaned over to Makoto and said in a hushed voice, “In case you’re wondering, yes, this happens fairly frequently.”

“How often is ‘fairly frequently’?”

“At least once a week.”

Makoto tried to hide behind his plate as the argument slowly escalated.

* * *

 “I hope y’all kept room for dessert!” Teruteru sang, speeding out of the kitchen with another trolley loaded with food.

“Thank you, Teruteru!” Sonia smiled. “Now, everyone, before we begin the dessert course, I have a small announcement to make!” She cleared her throat. “In my original invitation to the 78th Class, I said that our party would be from the hours of 3 PM today to 2 PM tomorrow, with everyone allowed to spend the night. I would like to make an amendment to that: since there are so many of us, I am afraid that I cannot accomodate _everyone_ in our sleeping arrangements. My final tally of spaces available is 30, which is to say that, unfortunately, I must ask two people to leave no later than 8 PM. Is there anyone who would prefer to go home tonight, rather than stay here?”

Hajime shared a knowing glance with Chiaki: _they figured out how to get Kiyotaka to leave._

“But wait,” Ibuki said, “can’t people sleep outside?”

“Ibuki, I would not want to be so inhospitable as to force our lowerclassmen to sleep in the cold!” Sonia said, though the glare she shot her sent a different message: _Don’t mess this up!_

“I knew Sonia likes her liquor,” Hajime breathed into Chiaki’s ear, “but I didn’t realize she would rather kick people out than skip it tonight.”

“I guess she was really looking forward to it,” Chiaki whispered back. “Or maybe the others convinced her.”

Probably the latter, since Sonia was the biggest social butterfly of the class. Hajime wondered what the others had told her that swayed her.

“I volunteer!” Kiyotaka shouted from the far end of the table

Well. That was easy.

“I-I’d like to go early t-too!” a girl with glasses and dark-purple hair said. “Being around y-you people makes me anxious!”

“Touko, that’s not a very nice thing to say!” someone else said.

“What?! It’s true!”

“So, um, I suppose we have our two volunteers?” Sonia said. “I-In that case, I have nothing further! Please, dig in, everyone!”

Hajime waited for Makoto to stand up and fill his plate at the trolley before leaning in and muttering to Fuyuhiko, “So, that’s the ploy?”

“Yeah,” he hissed back. “Went a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would. Maybe he has an early bedtime.”

“Whose idea was it?”

“It was actually Mikan’s. She overheard us talking and suggested it to us.”

Hajime gave Mikan an incredulous look. “Mikan?!”

She covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry! I didn’t want any trouble!”

“No, it’s fine, I’m—I’m just surprised that _you_ came up with the idea.”

“I-I just overheard them talking, like F-Fuyuhiko said!” she whimpered. “It wasn’t personal!”

“I’m not saying it was, it’s just that you don’t usually do things like this!”

Before he could continue, Makoto sat back down, his plate loaded with a thick slice of Black Forest cake. “What’re you guys talking about?”

“Oh, u-um—!” Hajime froze. “Um, we, we were just talking about—”

“Hajime was expressing disbelief that Mikan had suggested sleeping in the attic to make room for everyone,” Peko said.

“Y-Yeah! Which is a bad idea, because—y’know—the attic gets really cold, it’s almost as bad as outside!” Hajime nodded vigorously, hoping Mikan would swallow her pride (what little she had, anyway) and play along.

“I—I—...I’m sorry!”

Thank god. Bullet dodged, for now. He left to fill his own plate, clamping his mouth shut so he wouldn’t accidentally let slip the truth until it would no longer matter.

* * *

 It felt like it took forever, but finally, it was 8 PM. Just a few more seconds and they would be in the clear. Right now, he was in the kitchen chatting with Mahiru and one of the 78th Class, whose name he was totally blanking on, so he was just mentally calling her the Ultimate Programmer.

“Yeah, unfortunately, Hope’s Peak considers stuff like computer science and photography electives instead of core classes,” Mahiru said, scowling a little into her plastic cup of soda. “You can petition the school board if you want to, but they never actually reply. I’ve tried a bunch of times.”

“Oh… that kind of sucks…” the Programmer said.

“I wouldn’t get too down about it,” Hajime said reassuringly. “Since it’s your talent, you’re gonna be working on it every school day.”

“Yeah, but… it would be kind of nice to be able to do it with other people… and clubs don’t really work so well.”

“Clubs are sort of hit-or-miss,” he agreed. “But Mahiru is right, if you really want to work on programming with other people, that’s probably your best bet for now. Petitioning _might_ work, but it wouldn’t be implemented until next year at the earliest.”

“And you have to deal with the school board first,” Mahiru huffed. “Those guys don’t really care about the students, they’re too busy looking at exam results and data from our daily talent-testing, which is _infuriating_ to me. Like, we’re actual people, not just numbers on a piece of paper!”

“Mahiru is very passionate about this,” Hajime laughed awkwardly, trying to cut her off before she could start a full-blown tirade against the school board and Hope’s Peak in general.

“You’re damn right I am!” she swore. _“They_ scouted us, _they_ accepted us, and yet _we_ have to listen to _them?_ I’m amazed that they’re so full of themselves when _we_ obviously hold the power!”

Hajime groaned internally, bracing himself for another impassioned rant against the injustice of Hope’s Peak Academy and their nigh-inhumane treatment of the poor, exploited Ultimates.

“Everybody, it is 8 o’clock!” Sonia’s voice rang out. “Please, if you are leaving early, now is the time to do so! Everyone else, please gather in the living room!”

“Oh, wow, it’s 8 already?” Mahiru exclaimed, looking at the clock behind Hajime. “Time flies!”

_No, it really didn’t,_ he thought. “Yeah, it really does!”

They made their way to the living room, just in time to catch Sonia waving Kiyotaka and Touko goodbye. “I look forward to seeing you both in school on Monday! Have a lovely night!”

“You as well, Miss Nevermind! Rest well!”

“G-Goodbye, I guess…”

She shut the door behind them, and then, to Hajime’s surprise, she turned the lock.

“Whoawhoawhoa, hold on a second,” he said, rushing over to her. “Why are you locking the door?”

“In case they come back,” she said. “We can’t run the risk of them seeing what we are doing!”

“I… I guess,” he sighed. “Then are we starting?”

Sonia nodded enthusiastically, turning to the remaining students. “Everybody, thank you for joining us for the second portion of our party! Before we get started in earnest, let me just go over a few things! Firstly, there _are_ some fun activities I have planned for us all to enjoy later, which I will put the schedule for on the far wall over there!” She pointed to the opposite wall of the living room. “I have also posted our sleeping arrangements, so you know exactly where you will be sleeping tonight once you are ready to do so! Secondly, any messes made _must_ be cleaned up in the morning after breakfast, so please try not to cause too much havoc! And thirdly—!”

She gestured to Fuyuhiko, who was standing by the liquor table. The yakuza grinned deviously as everybody turned to face him. “Thirdly, since we don’t have to worry about any _snitches—”_ he gave the 78th Class a very heavy-handed look on that, “—we can spice things up a little!” He slid to the side and presented the spread of vodka, whiskey, beer, wine, and spirits they had collected for tonight. “All of these are for us to enjoy tonight! We’ve got plenty for everyone, so please, drink as much as you want! There’s no limits!”

“Wait, what?!” one of the lowerclassmen exclaimed. “You’re giving us _alcohol?”_

“But we’re underage! It’s illegal!”

Fuyuhiko laughed like they had just told him the best joke he’d ever heard. “So are _we!_ Come on, the whole fuckin’ idea of this party is to have fun, right?! So grab some drinks and let’s some have _fun!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: the real party starts.


	3. The Real Party Starts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just throwing it out there, the 77th Class' social skills could use some work right about now.

“Okay, Hajime, you’re up next! Bring it home!”

“Oh boy,” he laughed, standing up and stepping into the center of the circle. “Alright, ummm… Hi there. My name is Hajime Hinata. I’m a member of the 77th Class, and my talent is Super High-School Level Hope. A few of my favourite things are orange juice, video games, and… boats. I’m 16, and my birthday is on January 1st.”

“What sort of a talent is _Hope?”_ Mondo Oowada asked.

“I’m actually not allowed to say,” Hajime said. “Hope’s Peak doesn’t want it to be public for some reason.”

“That’s odd,” Celestia Ludenberg said, twirling her hair. “Hope’s Peak does not usually shy away from publicity.”

“Eh, you’d be surprised, actually,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff they keep sort of under wraps. Pretty much the administration is the only level that actually knows everything that goes on, not even the teachers are totally in the know.”

“Why all the secrecy, though?” Aoi Asahina wondered.

“Hope’s Peak doesn’t want anybody stepping on its toes, probably,” Mahiru smirked cynically. “They’re the only school in the world that does this stuff. Wouldn’t want their precious trade secrets to be revealed!”

Hajime laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff behind it that’s over my head. You would have to snoop around to find out anything useful.”

“Good thing you guys have an actual fucking _detective_ in your class,” Fuyuhiko grinned, giving Kyouko Kirigiri a very obvious wink. She looked away pointedly.

“”So, um… yeah. That’s me,” Hajime said lamely. “Not much exciting stuff, but I can’t really help that.”

“That was wonderful, Hajime!” Sonia enthused. “Thank you, everyone, for your introductions! Now that we all know each others’ names and talents, we can move on to the more exciting events for the evening! Kazuichi, would you be so kind as to check the schedule for our next game?”

“You got it, Miss Sonia!” Kazuichi nearly squealed, jumping up like a jack-in-the-box from his spot and dashing to the schedule. “Next up is… Sip Sip Shot!”

“Oh, yay!” Mikan cheered, clapping her hands. Luckily for her, she didn’t see Hiyoko staring at her, mouthing _What the actual fuck is wrong with you?!_

“Sorry, what’s Sip Sip Shot?” Leon Kuwata asked.

“It’s a drinking game!” Mikan exclaimed, still waving her hands giddily. “It’s like Duck Duck Goose, but instead it’s Sip Sip Shot!”

“You can’t be serious,” Byakuya Togami groaned.

“Dead serious!” Fuyuhiko said. “Alright, everybody who doesn’t have a drink you can sip, raise your hand so we can get you one you can!”

“I would rather not participate in this,” Sakura Oogami said as Fuyuhiko and Peko stood up to grab sippable drinks.

“It’ll be fun, Sakura-chan!” Ibuki preened. “Just give it a try!”

“Some of us are more suited to running than others of us…” Hifumi Yamada said, nervously pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“It isn’t a fun game if there isn’t anyone who has to take a shot!” Akane said.

“Besides,” Nagito laughed, “half of the fun is watching your classmates run around you like chickens with their heads cut off as they try to avoid taking a shot! It’s simply a grown-up’s Duck Duck Goose!”

“Exactly!” Mikan smiled happily. “It’s so much fun!”

“Why are you so happy about this?” Hiyoko asked, looking at her like she’d dropped down from the sky. “I’ve never seen your trash face look so giggly before!”

“I-I like this game!” Mikan said, her smile slipping a little. “It makes me happy!”

“You didn’t answer my fucking question, Pig Barf!” Hiyoko snapped. “I asked you _why!”_

“I—I don’t know!” Mikan was quickly deflating. “I-It just does, I don’t know why…!”

“Are you for real?! You’re never just _happy!_ Did your girlfriend slip one of your happy pills in your drink or something?”

“Whoa, Hiyoko!” Hajime said. “That’s uncalled for!”

“I would _never_ put something in Mikan’s drink!” Ibuki exclaimed hotly. “You take that back!”

“Hiyoko, seriously,” Mahiru said, grabbing Hiyoko’s shoulder.

“What?!” Hiyoko spat, shrugging off Mahiru’s hand roughly. “It’s an honest question!”

“Hiyoko, seriously, you don’t say that about someone!” Hajime said. “That’s really not cool!”

“Don’t start up again,” Mahiru ordered her, “or else I’m telling Ms. Yukizome on Monday when class starts.”

Hiyoko glared at her. “You wouldn’t!”

“I _would,_ missy. Ms. Yukizome’s been very clear about this with you, your bullying has to stop at some point!”

“Don’t _missy_ me, Mahiru!” Hiyoko barked. “If you tell Ms. Yukizome, _I’ll_ tell her that you’ve been drinking underage!”

“So what?!” Mahiru challenged. “So have you! I can handle detention just fine, it’s worth making sure your actions have consequences!”

“Rrgh!” Hiyoko pounded her fists against her legs. “Why do you have to be such a _jerk_ sometimes?!”

“Because _you’re_ such a jerk sometimes! If you can stop being so cruel to Mikan, I can stop being a hardass!”

Hiyoko crossed her arms angrily, glaring at the floor. “You’re really a buzzkill, you know that?”

“You should be getting your buzz somewhere else, Hiyoko,” Mahiru said, taking a sip of her beer. “Somewhere _healthy.”_

Sonia clapped her hands loudly. “Is everybody ready to start?” A chorus of “yeah”s went up around the circle. “Wonderful! Nagito, would you please start us off?”

“You want someone like me to start?” Nagito smiled happily as he stood up. “I’m so honoured!”

He started going clockwise around the circle. “Sip, sip, sip, sip…” He made it halfway around the circle before, “sip, sip, _shot!”_ He bopped Mikan on the head, and took off running. She dashed after him, giggling like a little kid as she gave chase. Ultimately, Nagito’s longer legs gave him an advantage, and he skidded into Mikan’s spot like a baseball player, barely missing her half-filled cup of punch. “Haha! I win!”

“Ohhhh!” Mikan growled playfully. “I’ll get you next time!”

“Get him later, take a shot first!” Nekomaru boomed.

Peko poured Mikan a shot and handed the glass to her. “Oh, come on, more than that!” Mikan pouted. The circle let out a long “Oooooo” as Peko doubled her shot, eyebrows raised fractionally. Mikan took the glass confidently, and without a moment’s hesitation, drained the whole thing in one large swallow. Her classmates cheered raucuously as she slammed down the glass, raising her fist triumphantly in the air. “Alright!”

She started bopping her way around the circle. “Sip, sip, sip, sip…” A lot of the freshmen were looking nervously at each other now—who knew these guys were so crazy? “Sip, sip, sip, _shot!”_

This time, she bopped Byakuya. “Are you _serious?!”_ he barked, reluctantly shooting up from his seat and chasing after Mikan, determined to avoid being subjected to a shot. The 77th Class cheered him on as the gap between them closed, and it looked like he was going to catch her just in time—

—but she ducked a split second before he could tag her, claiming his seat with a shit-eating grin that seemed to stretch up to her eyes. “Yaaaay!”

“First blood from the 78th Claaaaass!” Akane whooped as the circle erupted into applause. “Take a shooot!”

“I regret deciding to ever set foot in this house,” Byakuya growled darkly.

“Come on, man, you gotta take a shot!” Fuyuhiko said. “We can’t keep playing until you do!”

“Why must I subject myself to public humiliation as _well_ as unwanted inebriation?” Byakuya snapped. “I was not told that this was the intent of the party!”

“H-He shouldn’t have to if he doesn’t want to,” Ryota agreed.

“Ryota, if we start making exceptions now, they’ll _all_ wanna skip out!” Fuyuhiko said.

“B-But what’s so bad about that?”

“What?! It’s the whole fuckin’ point of the damn party! Get smashed, do stupid shit, have fun! Peko, get Byakuya his shot already!”

“Just take it,” Peko sighed, handing Byakuya his glass. “They won’t take no for an answer.”

“Uch… I wish I’d never heard of you people.” He braced himself, closed his eyes, and drained his glass. Unfortunately, his untainted mouth was woefully unaccustomed to the taste of hard liquor, and he nearly spat it out. “Mmf!”

“You can do it, just swallow!” Ibuki encouraged him.

He managed to pull himself together enough to swallow it down, but the instant his mouth was empty, he made that fact known. _“Ack!_ Dear god! This is the foulest thing I’ve ever tasted! It’s like drinking hand sanitizer!”

“Hey, they usually have rubbing alcohol and shit like that in hand sanitizer, y’know?” Nekomaru said. “It’s no big surprise that that stuff tastes like it!”

“How would you know what _hand sanitizer_ tastes like, Nekomaru?” Hiyoko asked.

“I don’t know how it tastes, but you can’t forget that smell!”

“I refuse to participate any further in this!” Byakuya said, moving away from the circle.

“Ah-ah-ah!” With surprising strength, Mikan grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him back around. “You can’t stop now! Give it an hour!”

“Why the _hell_ would I do that?”

“Because! Then you’ll start to really feel it!” She gave him an angelic smile. “It’s so much more fun when you give yourself the time to let it kick in! Trust me!”

“Dude, I hate to break it to ya, but they don’t seem like they’re gonna let you go,” Mondo said.

“I refuse to be subjected to this charade any longer!” Byakuya said.

“Byakuya,” Nagito said, “if you’re not feeling up to it right now, you can take a quick break after you finish your turn. But, I know these guys pretty well, and they’re not going to let up unless you play along. It’s only one night.”

“Yeah, man,” Akane nodded, cleaning out her ear. “This is the only party you really _have_ to be here for. It’s, like, class bonding.”

“If you stay the night, we won’t bother you when we throw our next party,” Hajime said. “You can do what you like. Just stay for tonight, is that okay?”

Byakuya scowled, glancing at Mikan, then immediately averted his gaze when he saw the Bambi-eyes she was giving him. “If it means I never have to attend one of these again… fine.”

The class cheered. “Byakuya-chan’s on boaaaard!” Ibuki sang.

“It’s your turn to be the bopper,” Chiaki said.

Byakuya straightened his coat. “Fine. Fine.” Looking very much like he had been sucking on a lemon slice, he took his time in playing his role. “Sip. Sip. Sip…” He made a whole revolution around the circle. “Sip. Sip. Sip. Shot.”

He practically slapped his hand on Fuyuhiko’s head, but the yakuza didn’t seem to mind, grinning excitedly as he chased after the Scion. Byakuya managed to outrace him, sinking into the empty space with unbridled relief. Fuyuhiko didn’t care one little bit, though. In fact, he seemed pretty happy that he was on the receiving end of his shot, downing it with glee. “I’m getting into this!” he exclaimed as he smacked his glass down. “This is starting to get fun!”

“For some of us, anyway,” Hajime murmured in Chiaki’s ear, indicating some of the freshmen across from them.

“They’ll get into it too,” she said. “They just need a few minutes.”

“Yeah, but these guys could stand to take it down a notch,” he said, glancing pointedly at Fuyuhiko as he pranced around the circle. “I think they’re freaking the freshies out.”

“That’s just how they are,” Chiaki sighed. “They’re big personalities. Very boisterous-bruiser-y.”

“Mm.” They watched as Fuyuhiko picked Yasuhiro, and unsuccessfully tried to beat him to his spot. “We should give them a break after this and let them catch up with us.”

“Yeah… They need to level up…”

“…Chiaki?”

“… Zzz…”

“…God damn it, Chiaki.”

* * *

When the game ended, Hajime suggested they all take an hour before the next “fun activity”. It had taken a little convincing, but the others eventually agreed to take a breather. A few of the freshmen gave him looks of gratitude, and he smiled back at them. He knew how it felt to be in their shoes. These sort of things had to be eased into if you weren’t used to them.

He ended up laying down on the living room couch, Chiaki asleep on top of him. She hadn’t even stirred when he’d carried her over here from the circle. If he didn’t know her better, he might’ve checked her breathing, but she was just basically a narcoleptic. Plus, with her lying down directly on top of him, he could feel the rhythm of her breathing against his own body. It was enough to make him start to feel drowsy, but he kept himself awake. Somebody needed to wake her up once the next game started.

They laid there by themselves for a few minutes, but before long, Ibuki and Mikan came to join them, bringing along Makoto and Kyouko. “Hey there, Hajime-chan!” Ibuki grinned. “Keeping yourself warm over there?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty toasty,” he laughed, picking up Chiaki’s limp hand. “I’ve got a thick blanket.”

“Well, Ibuki’s here to make sure you don’t fall asleep!” Ibuki announced. “You’re gonna be awake for the whole party!”

“Ibuki, I was already planning on that.”

“Never too sure, Hajime-chan! You could blink and it would be 4 AM!”

“Ibuki, that has never happened to me before.”

“First time for everything!” She flopped onto the loveseat to the right of the coffee table, gesturing for Mikan to sit on her lap. “Plus, you looked really bored just laying there with her crushing your lungs under her ginormous boobs.”

“I’m not being _crushed,”_ he laughed. “She’s not that heavy.”

“Ibuki didn’t say she was heavy, just that her boobs are probably big enough to do enough work for her to crush your chest.”

“Ooookay,” he chuckled awkwardly. “I’d rather not get into the details on how big my girlfriend’s chest is.”

“Why are you so flustered?” Ibuki grinned. “It’s not a big deal! Chiaki’s got big boobs, so what?”

“Yeah, okay, but you’re talking about _my girlfriend_ here, not just some girl on the sidewalk. Would you feel comfortable if I started making comments about _Mikan’s_ figure?”

“I mean, if you’re not being creepy about it, I don’t see what the big deal would be,” she said.

“Well, then obviously I won’t get through to you on this,” he sighed. He turned his gaze to the freshmen. “What about you guys? Do you get what I’m trying to say?”

“I-I think so,” Makoto said, a bit uncomfortable with being put on the spot.

“You see it as rude when others make comments about your girlfriend’s looks,” Kyouko said, “regardless of whether it is a compliment or not.”

“Yeah, that’s sort of how I feel about it,” Hajime nodded. “Like, it’s a little intrusive.”

“I mean,” Mikan said, “i-if it were me, I wouldn’t mind so much, a-as long as whoever makes the comment— _hic_ —isn’t saying it because they’re trying to be lewd about it. If— _hic_ —it’s between platonic friends, I don’t see a problem.”

“Mmmmmmmm,” he hummed, uncertain. “There’s a lot of subtext you can’t really avoid. It’s… it’s complicated.”

“Something— _hic_ —f-for later, I guess.”

He nodded, turning his attention back to the lowerclassmen. “So, are you guys acclimating better now that the game’s over and we’re away from the crazies over there?”

“…Yeah. I guess,” Makoto said. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I’ve always avoided this sort of event before,” Kyouko said. “If I had known this was the intent all along, I might not have come. I’ve seen how alcohol can derail people.”

“Mm. We’ve been doing this for a little while now,” Hajime said. “I guess since a few months into the school year. We haven’t had any major problems so far, and everybody’s had time to sort of… test their limits, I guess. Most of us don’t have many problems anymore, and as far as I know nobody’s having any addiction issues.”

“You can’t be certain about that sort of thing,” Kyouko said. “Especially if these events are regular, that can mask an addiction very easily. Under the guise of social drinking, addiction flies under the radar. You wouldn’t know unless you had a long break from these if anyone is suffering from alcoholism.”

“I guess. We’re just sort of going with the flow of things at this point. If there’s any problems going on, nobody’s brought them up in group therapy yet. Although, I guess nobody would want to, since that would be a whole other can of worms to open besides what we’re already talking about.”

“You guys have a lot to talk about in therapy?” Makoto guessed.

“Yeah,” Hajime nodded tiredly. “We spent the whole school year going through a doorstopper of mental issues we all have. Some of them aren’t so bad, but a lot of us have some fucked-up heads. Take Nagito, for example.” He gestured towards the Luckster, who was currently pulling out a tray of brownies from the oven in the kitchen. “His luck is legendary, but it works both good and bad. Every time something good happens, there’s always something that balances it out. Since it’s so big, that means he goes from top of the world to bottom of the trash heap pretty regularly. It shouldn’t surprise you that he’s clinically depressed because of that cycle. On top of therapy, he’s on antidepressants and has one-on-one sessions with Ms. Yukizome every day of the week. He actually had one this morning too, after breakfast. He had to leave for a few hours to go up to campus and see her.” He pointed at Chiaki. “Chiaki, believe it or not, she’s also got some pretty fucked-up issues too. She has a dissociative disorder called DP/DR, which is short for depersonalization/derealization. It means that she literally doesn’t perceive her body or the world as real, at least some of the time. She has trouble recognising herself in the mirror and in pictures, and she says sometimes she doesn’t know if anybody else is even a real person. She’s even said she doesn’t always recognize me as real. It’s a really bizarre disorder. It’s the reason she spaces out a lot. Sometimes she’ll just totally detach from the moment.”

“That’s really disturbing,” Makoto said.

“Yeah. It’s pretty unpleasant just to think about it. I can’t imagine what she goes through actually having it.” He adjusted her position so he could reach his glass of water on the table and take a sip. “I could talk all night about this stuff, but it would get pretty depressing. Anything you guys feel like talking about?”

“…What are the extracurriculars at Hope’s Peak Academy?” Kyouko asked.

“Oh! There’s actually a lot,” Hajime said. “There’s, um, there’s all the usual sports, y’know, like basketball, soccer, baseball, all that. Um, there’s also the academics clubs, like Mathletes and Chess Club. There’s the drama department and all that stuff that goes into there. Ibuki and Mahiru both fill their extracurricular requirements by working with the drama department. Ibuki’s the band leader and Mahiru does promotional photo shoots for all the performances that get put on. There’s a whole list of all the clubs somewhere in the stuff they’ll give you on Monday at the welcoming ceremony, and you can also start a club of your own, as long as you get at least 6 students to sign up and a teacher to supervise. It used to be a lot more awkward before the Reserve Course was given expanded access to the Ultimate campus, but since that’s a thing now they can sign up too. It’s pretty much the only time you’ll ever meet any of the Reserve Course students.”

“Wait, Reserve Course students are allowed to mix with the Ultimates now?” Makoto asked surprisedly.

“Yeah, it was announced, like, last month or something,” Hajime said. “There was a whole thing last year between the Reserves and the administration, and the administration finally gave in to a couple of their demands and let them have access to our side of the school and the clubs. They’re still not totally happy with their place in the school hierarchy, but they’ll take anything they can get.”

“Interesting,” Kyouko said. “There’s a power struggle between the Reserve Course and the faculty?”

“Not the faculty, the _administration,”_ he corrected. “Big difference. The faculty only teach us and keep the place running smoothly. The _administration_ decides what “smoothly” looks like, and last year was sort of rocky until they threw the Reserves a bone. Nobody really knows specifics, not even the faculty, but nobody ever knows specifics at Hope’s Peak.”

“That doesn’t sound very good,” Makoto said.

“It probably isn’t,” Hajime agreed. “And the Reserves aren’t the only students who’re unhappy with the administration. A lot of Ultimates are pissed off about how much they’re forcing us to research our talents and controlling our schedules at school. I haven’t really gotten involved in any of that, but you could ask Mahiru or Peko if you want to hear about it.” He laughed weakly. “You might be able to tell that I have approximate knowledge of many things.”

“Certainly, you seem to have a fairly clear picture of the dynamics behind the gates,” Kyouko said. “Which is more than can be said for many people.”

“I stick to the sidelines,” he admitted. “You can see a lot from there that isn’t obvious if you’re in the thick of it.”

“Indeed.”

Nagito approached them, carrying a platter of brownies. “Hey there! The first batch of brownies turned out excellent!” He set them down on the coffee table. “Help yourselves, please!”

“You’ll have to hand me one,” Hajime said. “I’ve kind of got a Chiaki lying on top of me right now.”

Nagito laughed, carefully pulling out a corner piece and handing it to Hajime. “She certainly looks comfy. Can’t really say the same for you, though.”

“What?! She’s 100 pounds soaking wet!” Hajime said indignantly. “It’s not like she’s standing on top of my chest on her tiptoes!”

“Weight isn’t everything, Hajime,” Nagito smiled slyly. “Human beings have lots of sharp corners inside them.”

Hajime took a bit of his brownie. “Why is everybody so certain that I’m not comfortable?! If I wasn’t, I would’ve woken her up!”

“Would you, Hajime?” Mikan asked, giving him a knowing smirk that looked uncannily similar to Nagito’s. “If you had to choose between you or her, who would you choose?”

Hajime knew a losing battle when he saw one, so instead of giving them the satisfaction of a straight answer, he took another large bite of brownie and said, “I’m not uncomfortable. Thanks for the brownies, Nagito.”

Chiaki suddenly stirred. “Mmf… huh? Hajime?”

“Welcome back to the waking world,” he greeted her. “You fell asleep in the middle of the game.”

“Oh, did I? Huh…” She turned her head towards the coffee table. “Brownies?”

“Freshly baked!” Nagito beamed. “There’ll be more in a few minutes, so please, help yourself!”

Chiaki leaned towards the table, arm outstretched to grab a brownie that was ripe for the taking. Hajime winced as her other hand pressed painfully into his stomach—so much for being comfortable.

That thought was quickly overriden by a shock of surprise when Chiaki leaned a little too far over, and tumbled off of Hajime and directly onto the floor with a dull _thump._ “Ow.” She raised a hand weakly. “I’m okay.”

“Ultimate Gamer K.O.!” Ibuki laughed. “Nice moves, Chiaki-chan!”

Chiaki sat up, looking dizzy. “Dancing games don’t usually require full-body coordination…” She grabbed the brownie from the platter and started eating it, turning to face the platter. “Those shots’ve kicked in… I think…”

“Do you need me to spot you?” Hajime asked.

“No, no…” she said vaguely. “I just… need to sit here for a while…” She noticed Makoto and Kyouko. “Oh. Hi again…”

“And here you can observe the rare Chiaki Nanami in her drunken state,” Nagito said, as if he was narrating a nature documentary. “Note how her head sways from side to side, and how her eyes begin to move independently of each other. This skill aids her in her gaming, but as the alcohol in her system depresses her higher cognitive functions, she begins to have trouble focusing her vision.”

“Nagito-chan, you’re being weird again!” Ibuki said.

“I’m just providing some entertainment for our lowerclassmen!” he laughed heartily. “Also note how, contrary to normal, she nibbles at her brownie like a bird pecks at birdseed. A loss of appetite is commonplace at this stage, but is amusing nonetheless.”

“Nagito,” Hajime sighed, “you’re doing that thing again where you go on those eloquent rambles.”

“Ah! My apologies, Hajime!” Nagito said. “I like to talk when I’m drunk.”

“You like to talk when you’re sober, too.”

“I’m a very talkative person,” he smiled. “I enjoy talking to people.”

“Chiaki-chan looks like she’s going in slow-motion here!” Ibuki giggled. “Look how slowly she’s eating her brownie!”

“Were you not listening to my expository narration?” Nagito asked. “This has been scientifically proven to be normal behaviour for Chiaki when she’s drunk.”

“Hajime…?” Chiaki said.

“Yeah?”

“…Is it weird that I wanna fight you?”

Everybody looked at her in confusion, with varied levels of amusement on their faces. “Um… what do you mean?” Hajime asked her.

“Like… IRL. I wanna fight you IRL.”

“Ohhhh. I get it. Yes, Chiaki, that is weird.”

“…Why?”

“Because, Chiaki, you don’t fight people IRL. That’s what Mario Kart is for, remember?”

Chiaki frowned. “So… I shouldn’t fight you?”

“Not IRL, no. If you want to fight me, we have to play Mario Kart to do it.”

Her frown deepened. “But… I really wanna fight you IRL.”

“Why do you want to fight me, Chiaki?”

“…I don’t know. I just do.”

“We can fight over Mario Kart, but I’m not actually going to fight you.”

She looked up at him with a scowl—but it was hard to take her seriously when she was so spaced-out. “Fuck _you,_ Hajime…”

The group burst into shocked laughter. _“What?!”_ he exclaimed.

“I said: _Fuck_ you _,_ Hajime,” she repeated, getting up on her knees and poking him roughly with her finger. “Why won’t you _fight me?”_

“Chiaki, I told you, Mario Kart is the only way I’ll fight you.”

“You’re a _wimp,_ Hajime,” she slurred, poking him again. He was having trouble not laughing in her face right now, she was being _so ridiculous._ “I could… I could take you on. I could fffuck you up.”

Ibuki and Nagito looked like they were having trouble catching their breath between their gales of laughter. Mikan had been laughing, but she had laughed so hard that now she was hiccuping a mile a minute. Makoto and Kyouko weren’t as into it, but even they were loosening up as the moment became more and more absurd.

“You’re fucking smashed, Chiaki,” Hajime giggled. “I’ve literally never seen you like this before.”

“I… I will fffuck you up, Hajime. I will fffight you IRL.”

Hajime shifted onto his stomach and faced Chiaki head-on. “You will _fuck me up,_ is that so?”

She nodded, poking him right in the nose. “I will _ffuck, you, up.”_

“Uh-huh, sure,” he deadpanned, smirking. “I could just push you backwards with my finger and you would fall right onto the table.”

“Uh- _uh._ I’ll make you… beg for mercy.”

“Come at me, scrublord,” he challenged.

She drew back a fist, aiming for his face, and pushed forward with everything she had—  
—and hit him in the shoulder instead.

He burst out laughing. Yeah, she'd packed some decent power into that punch, but she had completely missed her target. She was too drunk to fight her own reflection at this point. “Good shot, Chiaki,” he laughed. “Good shot. My turn now.”

“Huh? N-No,” she shook her head. “This is an FPS game, Hajime, there… aren’t any turns.”

“No, that’s wrong,” he smiled. “This is actually a turn-based RTS. You have to let me have my turn before you can go again.”

“…Really?” she pouted. “I didn’t know we were playing an RTS.”

“Tough luck, cinnamon roll,” he said. “My turn.”

He gently nudged her with his pointer finger, right in the middle of her forehead. She swayed dangerously for a moment, then, just as he’d predicted, she pitched backwards and fell against the table, nearly landing on the brownies. “Ow.” She pushed herself back up, but lost her balance again, this time faceplanting into the cushion of the couch. “I can… I can still take you on… 1v1 me, Hajime.”

“I just did, you goof,” he laughed, grabbing her shoulders and holding her steady. “You’re drunk as fuck, Chiaki. You should take a few and lie down until the next game.”

“I’m… ‘m fine, Hajime,” she said. “I can still…”

“Uh-uh.” He stood up and helped her onto the couch. “You’re gonna take a nice nap until I come and get you, okay? You need to take a break.”

“You’re… you’re a fuckin’ noob, Hajime…” she said, closing her eyes.

And just like that, she was out again.

Hajime laughed to himself. “You’re a dork, Chiaki.”

He turned around, and saw that Nagito and Ibuki both had their phones out, cameras trained on him. “Wait, you guys _filmed that?!”_ he exclaimed.

“Of course!” Ibuki laughed. “That was _awesome!”_

“You guys!” he giggled. “That’s honestly such a stupid moment to record, though!”

“Is that so?” Nagito grinned. “I think that when we wake up tomorrow, we’ll all be glad we captured that moment! A rare, epic battle between Hajime Hinata and Chiaki Nanami, recorded so we may never forget it!”

“That—that was pretty funny!” Makoto said, wiping a tear from his eye as he recovered from his laughter.

“Jeez,” Hajime chuckled, “I guess we’re not safe from you guys. But I'll get you back. I’ll catch you all one day, and I’ll have my phone in hand!”

“I look forward to it, Hajime,” Nagito said, pocketing his phone and grabbing another brownie. “Until then: to Hajime’s victory over Chiaki Nanami!”

“To Hajime!” the group cheered, and they began devouring the brownies in earnest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, congratulations, Hajime. You beat a drunk girl by booping her into a table. We're all very proud of you.
> 
> Next time: Spin the Bottle.


	4. Spin the Bottle, and the Party Ends

A few minutes later, Nagito and Ibuki dragged Makoto and Kyouko off to chat with some of the others, leaving him watching over Chiaki while Mikan stretched out on the loveseat, giggling quietly as she refilled her shot glass. This left him with a difficult choice: stay with Chiaki, and be the only person awake in Mikan’s presence until Ibuki or someone else came back; or leave Chiaki to sleep and come back once the next game started… leaving her the _only_ person in Mikan’s presence. Not that he had anything against Mikan! He liked Mikan! She was a good person… but she was also roaring drunk right now. That meant that she would drop her crippling shyness and show her darker side if given the opportunity. He _also_ knew that even though she was madly in love with Ibuki, she had a thing for pretty much every girl in the class, as well as a few of the boys (Then again, Ibuki was also low-key into all of the girls, but she wasn’t as likely to do anything about it, even when she was wasted). Hell, she’d even told Nagito once that she wouldn’t mind “a little taste of that”. If he stayed, Mikan would latch on to him like a squid, but if he left, that left nothing between her and Chiaki, and he _really_ did not want to come back to see Mikan doing… _anything_ to her. Like, hell to the no on that one.

So, really, he had no choice. He would have to stay, and try to make it out without any suggestive marks. Resigned to his fate, he leaned back further into the couch, pulling Chiaki’s ankles closer to him, and watched Mikan down her shot. And that was another thing: Mikan drank like nobody else in the class! Not even Hiyoko or Nekomaru held their liquor as well as she did. If he didn’t know her better, he would chalk it up to having practice at parties like this before. But… well, yeah, he knew her better. Which also meant he wasn’t the least bit surprised when she picked up the bottle again, prepping to pour _another_ shot.

But he didn’t expect her to suddenly stop and inspect the bottle.

“Huh…” She put the bottle down. “It’s empty… already…?”

“Already?” he repeated, frowning as he picked up the bottle to see for himself. To his surprise, the bottle was completely empty. “Wow. I, uh… I guess it wasn’t very filled to begin with, then.” He put it down. “Maybe it’s a sign that you should take a break, Mikan.”

She shook her head vigorously. “N-Noooo… I want more!”

“Mikan…” he said. “Seriously, you’ve had a lot already. It’s—what, 11:30?” He checked his phone. “Yeah, it’s 11:32. How many shots have you had tonight?”

“I dunno…” she moaned. “I just wanna little more…”

Hajime shook his head, laughing quietly. “Yeah, I know what that really means. You’ll do one more shot, and then one more after that, and one more, until you’re about to pass out on the floor. I’m not gonna be an enabler.”

“Hajimeeeeee…” she whined, reaching out for his hand. “Pleeeeease, pretty pleeeease?”

“Mikan, you’re starting to be pathetic about this,” he sighed. “I’m not getting you anything to drink.”

“Not even one little bottle of the Smirnoff Ice? Hajimeeeeee!”

“You’re acting like a little kid, Mikan, seriously. Stop it.”

“I only wanna tiny little bit, Hajime!” She was—she was literally starting to cry. Literally. She was starting to cry over one fucking shot. Jesus, she turned on the waterworks at the drop of a hat! “Why won’t you get me any?!”

He groaned, burying his face in his hands. This was one thing he hated about the fact that she was Ibuki’s girlfriend instead of someone _else:_ Ibuki, Miss Ultimate Death Metal or whatever, would have no problem singling out the sound of her girlfriend’s crying in this house, and he knew the second she found them here and Mikan told her how he was supposedly being mean, he would be treated to another one of Ibuki’s rants about not hurting Mikan’s feelings because _Mikan-chan is fragile! You can’t just say whatever you want to her, you have to be considerate of her feelings!_ Except he was eighty percent sure that Mikan had figured out how to use this to her advantage, so people would _have_ to give her what she wanted. She would get along swimmingly with Monaka…

“…What do you want, Mikan.”

And just like that, she was back to being sickeningly bright and giggly. “I wanna White Russian! I wanna White Russian!”

“Okay. Fine.” He carefully moved Chiaki’s legs off his lap and stood up. “But you’re coming with me, okay? You can’t be unsupervised.”

She smiled happily, cheeks red. “Really…? I get to go with you?!” She tried to stand up. Unfortunately, ‘tried’ is as far as she got before she lost her balance and flopped right back onto the loveseat. “Hee-hee-hee-hee! I’m so clumsy!”

_Oh no. Nononono, I’m not falling for this again._ He swiftly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her onto her feet. “Okay, that’s great, Mikan. Try to keep your goddamned skirt down, alright?”

He carried her into the kitchen. Fuyuhiko and Mondo were chatting by the stove, both munching on the third batch of brownies. How much batter did Sonia _have?_

“Hey there, Hajime,” Fuyuhiko greeted them as they stumbled over to the fridge. “Oh, geez. Mikan’s gotten shitfaced already, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Hajime huffed, opening the fridge and grabbing some milk. “Ibuki’s fucked off somewhere else, so I get to play babysitter until she’s back, A.K.A. make sure she gets what she wants so she doesn’t start bawling.” He slammed the milk down on the island. “Do you know where the Kahlua is?”

“The Kahlua?” Fuyuhiko frowned as he thought about it. “I dunno, actually.”

“Well, I can’t make her a White Russian without some Kahlua, so could you _please_ find me some?” Hajime snapped.

“Jesus, Hajime, cool the fuck off!” Fuyuhiko said. “I’ll get you some damn Kahlua, alright?! You don’t have to be a dick about it.”

“Do _you_ want to be the one keeping Mikan from making a scene of herself?” Hajime asked.

“I said I’m going! Fucking shit, dude…”

Fuyuhiko waded into the living room. “Sonia! Sonia, where’s your fucking Kahlua?!”

“Okay, Mikan, we’re gonna sit down now, okay?” Hajime said, pulling out a stool for her to sit on. “And like I said, please, _please_ keep your skirt down, alright?”

She only giggled as he helped her up onto the stool. Mondo gave him a look. “It’s always the ones you least expect, isn’t it?”

“You’re telling me,” he growled, trying to keep her steady as he got onto his own stool. “She gets really stupid when she’s drunk.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Mondo nodded, sipping his drink. “There’s guys like that in my gang. You wouldn’t think they’re the type to get fuckin’ smashed, but then you break out the booze, and they’re just fuckin’ _gone._ Totally left field. You never see ‘em the same way again.”

“That’s Mikan to a T,” Hajime agreed. “She’s the doormat of the class when she’s sober, but when she gets her hands on the drinks, she becomes… crazy. You can imagine how that went the first time we had a party like this.”

Mondo laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, she, uh… that must’ve been somethin’ to see, huh?”

“Oh yeah. Big time.” He grabbed a bottle of vodka that was sitting unopened on the island and cracked it open. “Mikan, I’m only pouring this for your drink when Fuyuhiko gets back, okay? Do _not_ drink this until I’ve finished making it.” He poured a dash of vodka into her empty glass, and swiftly moved it between himself and Mondo once he finished, as Mikan predictably reached for it. _“No,_ Mikan. Wait for me to finish it.”

“Bu—b-b-but Hajime!” she blubbered.

“Mikan, one minute isn’t gonna change how wasted you’re going to get,” he snapped. “Just wait for Fuyuhiko, and let me finish making your damn White Russian, and then you can guzzle it down like there’s no fucking tomorrow, okay?!” Mikan started to cry in earnest, but just as he started to accept his doom, Fuyuhiko, his new favourite person ever, showed up with a bottle of Kahlua. “Look, Fuyuhiko’s back, alright?! Just give me five seconds, okay?” He snatched the bottle from Fuyuhiko’s hand. “Fuyuhiko, your timing could not have been better.”

“Seems like she’s keepin’ you pretty fuckin’ busy,” Fuyuhiko observed as Hajime feverishly finished making Mikan’s drink.

“I just need her to shut up for _five minutes,”_ Hajime growled. He poured in the milk, and before it had a chance to settle, he slammed the glass down in front of the girl. “There. Drink up, buttercup.”

And once again, she went from a sobbing wreck to the happiest goddamn five-year-old in the room. “Yaaaaay!” But then, her face fell, and she said quietly, “But… th-there’s no straw…”

Fucking fucking _fuck,_ Mikan.

“Hold on,” he said, desperately trying to control the urge to spill her drink just to push her over the edge. He opened the silverware drawer, found two of those tiny red cocktail straws, stomped back to the island, and rammed them into her drink. “I got you _two,_ Mikan. In case you lose one.”

The next thing he knew, she had her arms around him, and was crushing him against her chest. “Th-th-thank you! Y-You’re so s-s-sweet, Hajime!”

“Mikan—!” he gasped. “I need air!”

He wrenched himself from her vice-like grip, and gave Mondo an exhausted look. “Yeah. She’s fucking crazy right now.”

Mondo watched as Mikan started sipping her drink, humming to herself with an abnormally bright smile on her face. “Yeah… She’s pretty weird.”

“Can I get you to watch her for me until the next game?” Hajime asked. “Please? It’ll only be for like, fifteen minutes.”

“Um…”

“Basically just make sure she doesn’t pass out or start crying, okay? If you can do that you’re in the clear.”

Mondo looked very uneasy, but Hajime was already starting to back away. “Hajime, I don’t know about this—”

“You can handle her!” Hajime said hastily. “It won’t be a problem!”

“Hajime—”

Before Mondo could say anything else, Hajime broke into a run and charged into the living room, leaving the freshman alone with Mikan. _Sorry, Mondo, but I need some space before Mikan really starts losing it._

He skittered back to the coffee table, keeping his head down, and slipped back onto the couch. “I’m back, Chiaki,” he whispered, even though he knew she was still fast asleep.

Ibuki appeared out of the crowd, looking pretty smashed as she toddled over to the loveseat, holding a half-full bottle of bright pink malt liquor. “Hhheya, Hajime-chan!” she slurred, practically crashing down onto the cushion. “How’s it goin’?”

“Um… it’s, um, it’s going, I guess,” he said. “People are starting to hit their zones pretty hard.”

“Heeheehee! Yeah, izz gettin’ pretty lit,” she giggled. “I know ‘buki’s feelin’ buzzed!” She looked around. “Hey, uh, where’s, um, where’s… ah, fuck, where’s…?”

“Where’s _Mikan?”_ Hajime finished.

“Yeah! Yeah, where’s Mikan-chan? ‘buki wants’a find her.”

“She’s in the kitchen,” he sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. “One of the freshies is with her.”

“Ohhhh, okay!” she chirped. “Thanks, Hajime-chan, you’re great!”

She stood up, swaying unsteadily, then gave him a long kiss on the cheek before staggering off to the kitchen. He immediately scrubbed at his cheek to erase the sensation of her lips pressed against him, grimacing when he saw her pink lipstick against the heel of his hand. Couldn’t he just get a few minutes to himself without being interrupted by increasingly drunker people who seemed a little too eager to get handsy with him?

As it so happened, he could. The next ten minutes passed without incident, and he was able to just sit quietly, playing with Chiaki’s hair as she snoozed, and recharge. He noticed that she’d used a different shampoo today. One of Sonia’s? Probably. He held up a lock of hair to his nose and took a deep breath, trying to identify the smell. He caught a very strong scent of strawberry, and underneath that was the sweet aroma of chocolate. It suited her, he decided. Maybe he should ask Sonia where she bought it so he could get it as a birthday present or something. Hopefully it wasn’t something he’d have to have imported from Novoselic.

He was beginning to feel a little drowsy, when Sonia called out over the din, “Everybody! It is midnight now! It’s time for our next game!”

Oh.

Joy.

* * *

“Yo, Chiaki,” he said, gently shaking her awake. “Wake up, sleepyhead, it’s time for the next game.”

Chiaki let out a huge yawn. “Really?”

“Yep. C’mon.” He lifted her off of his lap so he could get off the couch, but when he did, she only flopped back down. “Chiaki, are you serious?”

She reached out to him with both arms. “Carry me?”

He let out a big sigh, but he couldn’t help smiling. “Okay.”

He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. “I swear, you must be a narcoleptic or something, with the way you sleep.”

“Probably…” she said, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck.

“We’ll be playing this game in the attic!” Sonia said, pointing to the stairs. “Bring your drinks with you!”

As he made his way up the stairs, he found Akane suddenly next to them. “Oh! Hey there, Akane!”

“Heya, Hajime!” she beamed. “I’m really excited for this game!”

“Do you know what it is?”

She nodded gleefully. “But I can’t say it in front of the freshies! It would ruin the surprise!”

“… _Oh._ So we’re playing _that,”_ he hissed through clenched teeth.

“If by ‘that’, you mean— _that—_ then yeah!”

“This can end one of two ways.”

They piled into the attic. “Please, get into a circle as best you can!” Sonia ordered. “Alternate by class, upperclassman-lowerclassman-upperclassman! Try to get as close together as possible!”

“A circle game?” Aoi said. “Are we doing Telephone or something?”

“We’re playing something a little more interesting than _Telephone,”_ Fuyuhiko grinned, tossing an empty bottle from one hand to the other.

“Please, enlighten us,” Togami scowled.

“We’re gonna be playing a classic!” Mahiru said. “Or at least, it’s _practically_ a classic.”

“If you haven’t played before, don’t worry,” Nekomaru said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of!”

“Wait, hold on,” Junko Enoshima interrupted. “What are you saying?”

“This game is a little… embarrassing,” Peko allowed. “Nekomaru means to say that if you feel uncomfortable, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“What kind of game is this, then?!” Sayaka asked.

Fuyuhiko stopped tossing the empty bottle in his hands. _“This_ kind of game.”

He place the bottle on its side, right in the center of the circle, and the lowerclassmen all understood immediately. Which led to a chorus of passionate protests.

“Whoawhoawhoa, _hold on—!”_  
“I’m not about to—!”  
“There’s no way I’m gonna—!”  
“I would rather not—”  
“Are you _fucking—?!”_

_“GUYS!”_ Fuyuhiko shouted, silencing their objections. “It’s just a fucking _game!”_

“Yeah, but some of us aren’t comfortable _kissing_ people we barely know!” Aoi said.

“Seriously, man!” Yasuhiro said. “That’s mega-weird!”

“But that’s the whole _point!”_ Kazuichi said. “It’s _supposed_ to get awkward, that’s what’s _fun_ about it! Besides, do you really think we’re all fine with kissing each other? I’m not!”

“Seriously!” Hiyoko agreed. “Do you think I’m okay with kissing Pig Barf over there?!” She pointed at Mikan, who was directly across from her. The nurse promptly buried her face in her hands and tried not to burst into tears.

“I am not interested in a game centered around _Schadenfreude,”_ Kyouko said, crossing her arms.

“Just give it a try,” Mahiru urged them. “We’ll give it a few spins. see how it’s going then before we make any final decisions.”

“Are we ready?” Fuyuhiko asked. “Good! I’ll start!”

And without any further delay, he reached into the center, and spun the bottle.

It was a good spin. The bottle whirled around and around, clattering against the wooden floor as it slid across the seams. After a few seconds, it began to slow, and everybody held their breath as it skidded to a stop. _Hiyoko, Sayaka, Gundham, Makoto, Sonia… Celestia… Chiaki._ “Oooooo!” Ibuki squealed. “The first kiss of the game!”

“It could be worse…” Fuyuhiko said as he got up and moved over to Chiaki. “Shall we?”

“I guess…” she said.

Much like jumping into a pool, they didn’t waste their time in pressing their lips together. A few giggles went up from around the circle, as well as some surprised gasps from the freshmen. It was over as quickly as it had begun, but that didn’t mean that Fuyuhiko or Chiaki weren’t both blushing bright red. “…Okay,” Fuyuhiko said, straightening his tie awkwardly. “We’re off to a good start.” He scuttled back to his spot. “Spin!”

“Okay…” Chiaki gave the bottle a whirl. Everybody watched intently as it zipped around the circle, taking its time in slowing down. A few revolutions passed, and it started to noticeably drag. _Peko, Yasuhiro, Fuyuhiko, Sakura, Akane, Hifumi… Hajime… Chihiro._

“Okay…” Chiaki said, biting her lip. Thankfully, there wasn’t another suggestive chorus from the crowd this time. Chihiro looked pretty uncomfortable with this as it was. Chiaki scooted across the circle to her, and put her hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay with this, Chihiro-chan?”

Chihiro’s face was bright red, but she managed to stutter, “Y-Y-Yes.”

“Okay. I’m… I’m gonna try to make this as comfortable as possible…”

She gently kissed the programmer, and just like before, it was over before the girl knew it. “There…” Chiaki smiled. “Was that so bad?” Chihiro shook her head, “Alright. You have to spin now.”

Chiaki scooted back to her spot, and Chihiro nervously grabbed the bottle. She tried to spin it, but it slipped through her shaky fingers, clattering against the floor. “Don’t sweat it, honey,” Mahiru said. “It’s just a game.”

“Right…” She grabbed it again, more steadily, and sent it spinning. One, two, three, four, five revolutions, six revolutions, seven revolutions. Eight revolutions. Nine revolutions… _Junko, Kazuichi, Sayaka, Ryota… Aoi… Nagito._ “Ehehehe!” the Luckster laughed. “I don’t know if I can call you lucky for this, being the trash I am, but it seems the bottle’s pointing at me!”

“Y-Yeah…” Chihiro said, standing up and crossing the circle. There was a brief moment of laughter when she got down on her knees—Nagito was still a head taller than her, even sitting. He cupped her face with one hand, leaned in, and kissed her without a second thought. She squeaked in surprise at his forwardness, cheeks blushing even brighter than before. Some of the upperclassmen laughed, with some smattered applause when the two finished. The second it was over, Chihiro scurried back to her space, not making eye contact with anyone. “Okay,” Kazuichi said. “Let’s see what Ultimate Bullshit is gonna do _this_ time.”

“Ten bucks says it lands on Hajime,” Ibuki said as Nagito spun the bottle.

“I say it lands on Makoto,” Hajime said.

“You’re on!”

“Celeste, why don’t you place a bet?” Sayaka asked.

“I would rather not,” the Gambler said, curling her lip as she watched the bottle come to a stop.

“And it’s… Mikan?!” Ibuki exclaimed, staring at the bottle in disbelief. “What the actual _fuck?!”_

“I didn’t see that coming,” Hajime said to Nagito as he crossed over to Mikan.

“Sorry, Hajime, you can’t have me all to yourself,” the boy smirked. “I have to share the wealth, y’know?”

He knelt down in front of Mikan, who was swaying from side to side with a dopey grin on her face, and waved his hand in front of her. “Hey, Mikan, are you in there?”

“—Huh?!” she gasped, suddenly snapping to attention.

“I have to kiss you now,” he said.

“Oh… really?” she smiled. “Okay!”

He leaned in a little on the slow side, but Mikan practically smashed her lips against his, and the circle burst into laughter as she pulled him closer by his hoodie, his expression shifting from one of serenity to one of extreme shock. “Damn, Mikan, give the guy some _air!”_ Fuyuhiko called out. “You’re gonna suck out all his oxygen like that!”

She kept him like that for a little too long, and their lips parted with an audible _*pop*._ “Hee-hee-hee!” Mikan giggled. “Your face is all pink!”

Nagito’s face was, indeed, blushing bright pink, but he managed a laugh. “You caught me by surprise, that’s all.” He stumbled back to his spot. “Your turn!”

Mikan nearly fell flat on her face in her attempt to reach the bottle. “Okay, I’m calling it now, no more drinks for Mikan tonight,” Mahiru said.

“How can someone drink so much and _still_ not have passed out?!” Hiyoko wondered aloud.

“She must have one hell of a liver,” Fuyuhiko said.

“Not for long, at this rate,” Hajime muttered.

Mikan spun. Or tried to. The bottle slipped from her hands. “Oops!” She picked it up again. It slipped again, clattering loudly against the floor. She tried again, but she still couldn’t steady her hand enough. The fourth time, she finally got a grip on it. She spun… Well, no. She didn’t _spin_ the bottle, she ended up shoving it. It spun a little as it rolled away, every little clink against the floor audible in the uncomfortable silence that had fallen, and came to a stop against Gundham’s shoe.

“So, um… did that count?” Yasuhiro asked, earning him a glare from Aoi.

“I think Mikan should tap out for the night,” Nekomaru said. “She looks like shit.”

“Hey, Mikan-chan, wanna come with ‘buki?” Ibuki cooed, stepping over and taking the girl’s hand. “Le’s go lie down, m’kay?”

As they left the attic, there was another awkward silence. This time, it was broken by Peko. “Perhaps we should end this early.” This was met by a dull stream of agreement from the freshmen.

Fuyuhiko scowled. “…Yeah, okay. Fine. It’s not really working for everyone, I guess.”

“Sorry, guys,” Chiaki said. “It’s usually more fun than this.”

“What should we do instead?” Ryota asked.

“I dunno…” Akane said. “The energy’s sorta dyin’, y’know?”

“But it’s barely midnight!” Kazuichi complained.

“Maybe we should just cap it off with a movie or somethin’?” Teruteru suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Mahiru said. “Sonia, what kind of movies have you got?”

“Oh, we have a large collection!” Sonia said enthusiatically. “We are big fans of foreign movies!”

“Well, shit, let’s go downstairs and put something on!” Fuyuhiko grinned. “C’mon, guys!”

* * *

They’d spent a full ten minutes going through Sonia’s movie collection and debating which one to watch. There were an unusual number of movies that were centered around famous serial killers, for some reason, as well as obscure anime. In the end, they decided to watch Mulan—“It’s a really good thing Ibuki’s comatose right now”—and would probably go to bed after that. Some of the upperclassmen grumbled that 2 AM wasn’t very late for a party, but they went along with it. Chiaki fell asleep again almost immediately, leaving Hajime immobile underneath her weight. This time, he would readily admit that he was uncomfortable, especially because of her chest pressing down on his lungs. Of course, nobody bothered to ask this time.

He didn’t really remember falling asleep, but he could only assume he must’ve done so before the movie was over. The next thing he knew, he was waking up. Chiaki was still on top of him, and sunlight was streaming in from behind him. His arm was asleep, Chiaki’s elbow cutting off his circulation. His head hurt, a lot. There was someone talking, no, two or three people talking in the kitchen, and he could smell something cooking. It smelled a lot like pancakes. He raised his free hand and rasped as loudly as he dared, “Hey, a little help?”

Someone came over to him and helped him slide out from underneath Chiaki’s limp form. He nearly fell over when he stepped onto the floor at an odd angle, but caught himself just in time. “Thanks.” He pressed his hands against his face, trying to wake up. “What time is it?”

“It’s about 7:15. You’re the fourth one to wake up.”

“Oh, lucky me. Five or six hours of sleep.”

He opened his eyes, and realised he was talking to Ryota. “Mornin’.”

“Morning.” They shuffled back into the kitchen, where Sonia was flipping pancakes, a rare scowl of exhaustion on her face, and Teruteru was mixing some sort of syrup at the island. “Mornin’, guys,” Hajime muttered.

“Good morning, Hajime,” Sonia said bitterly. “Did you sleep well?”

“No,” he said. “I feel like trash and I have a hangover.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m also in the middle of one right now.”

“This syrup oughta help some,” Teruteru mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “I crushed some aspirin tablets and mixed ‘em in. I’d say two pancakes’ worth should do th’ trick.”

“Thanks, Teruteru,” Hajime sighed, sitting down at the island. “Last night could’ve gone better.”

“Yeah,” Ryota agreed. “I don’t think the little guys enjoyed it very much.”

“We went too fast.”

“Yeah.”

“Ryota, could you wash these plates for me?”

“Sure, Sonia.”

Mikan stumbled into the room. Her makeup was a mess, especially her mascara, and her expression was somewhere between murderous and despondent. She’d changed out of her normal outfit into a rumpled gray T-shirt and black pajama pants.

“Mornin’, Mikan,” Hajime said.

She didn’t respond, simply sitting at the island directly across from him and burying her head in her arms on the marble surface.

“Someone’s had a rough go of it,” Teruteru commented, “if she’s sittin’ right next to me without battin’ an eye.” He stopped stirring for a moment and grabbed a teaspoon, filling it up with the amber syrup, and stretching it out to Hajime. “Hajime, would you be so kind?”

“Sure,” he said, taking the spoon. It was exceptional, as always. Very sweet, but not cloying. He struggled to find something that he didn’t like about it. “…I think maybe a little thinner and it’s good to go.”

“Thank you, Hajime,” Teruteru smiled, resuming his stirring.

“These’ll be finished in a few moments,” Sonia announced. “Just give them time to cool before you start eating.”

“Pancakes?” a new voice said.

Hajime looked up, and saw Kyouko standing at the lip of the raised step into the kitchen. “Oh. Hey. Mornin’.”

“Good morning…” she said uncertainly, padding closer. “…Is nobody else awake?”

“Not so far,” he shrugged. “Fair warning, a lot of us aren’t gonna be feeling so hot for a few hours at least.”

“I can see why,” she said. “…So, pancakes?”

“Yes, pancakes,” Sonia snapped. “With maple syrup Teruteru made himself. There will be plenty for everyone.”

Hajime smiled sympathetically at Kyouko’s confused expression. “Little hint: I get quiet, Sonia gets snappy, Teruteru gets slow, Mikan gets bitchy.” Mikan raised her head just enough to give him a death glare, then rested it back down. “Everybody who drank too much is gonna be a bit of a pain.”

“That makes me wonder why you drink, then,” she said.

“We trade a good morning for a great night,” he said, shrugging again. “We’re stupid like that.”

Kyouko didn’t have a response for that, settling for helping Ryota with the dishes.

Slowly, the kitchen and dining room filled up with the rest of the partygoers, and they ate breakfast very quietly, voices hushed and conversations small. Teruteru’s syrup helped take the edge off of their hangovers, but nothing could get rid of them entirely except time. The freshmen were especially on the quiet side, and Hajime felt a little bad that the party hadn’t given them the impression they were going for when they’d announced it. Hopefully they could all make it up to them somehow later on. Once school started.

Oh. That was right. _School_ started tomorrow. Well, that was going to be fun, if by fun he meant painful, unsatisfying, and endlessly frustrating. He really didn’t want to go back to the Reserve Course building. He really didn’t want to be hounded by the teachers and his classmates. He _really_ didn’t want to go to group therapy with Ms. Yukizome and the 77th Class. All of that sounded like a large helping of _nope._

He sighed heavily, taking an unnecessarily large bite of pancake. What was the point of being so great on paper when everyone was after you in the real world?

At least he had Tuesday and Thursday with these guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a bit of a downer.
> 
> ...
> 
> Well, they can't all be roaring successes.
> 
>  
> 
> Coming up: the first day of class, and a new perspective. Also, yay me for posting a fourth chapter on **anything** I've put on here!


	5. The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Points to me for posting at a reasonable hour.

_Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp!_

“Uuuuccchhh….”

_Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp!_

“Go ‘way…”

_Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp!_

“Shuddup…!”

_Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp! Vrrrrrp!_

…

_“Hey hey. You’ve reached the voicemail of Chiaki Nanami, at 3884164837. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.”_

_Beep._

_“Hello, Ms. Nanami, this is your teacher Ms. Yukizome calling you. I hope you’re doing well, although from what I’ve heard from your schoolmates, we might need to have a very serious talk when I see you. I’m calling to remind you that you’re giving a welcoming speech today after the headmaster at the entrance ceremony. I hope you remembered to write it? Or at least had someone_ else _write it? If you get the opportunity, please call me back. If not, I’ll be seeing you in 2 hours! Have a good morning!”_

Oh no. Ohhhhhhh no. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, _shit._

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

Chiaki was not a morning person at the best of times, but now she was sitting bolt-upright in her bed, heart pounding a mile a minute. _The speech, the fucking_ speech! _Shit!_ She’d had the foresight to write it on Thursday, but now she had to give it! When she was still recovering from the party yesterday! Fuck!

And Ms. Yukizome’s other words were clanging in her head like cacophonous church bells out of some horror game. _From what I’ve heard from your schoolmates…_ Did she know? Had word gotten out somehow? They’d gotten Kiyotaka out of the picture, but had one of the other freshmen snitched?! If they had, Chiaki was in deep shit, deeper than ever before. Ms. Yukizome would flay her alive!

She jumped out of bed and got herself ready in record time, barely caring that there was pure emptiness inside her stomach and the circles under her eyes were black going on void. She could take care of all that on the way to school. Right now, panic!

She checked her backpack had all of her textbooks and pencils and paper in it, slung it onto her shoulders, and sprinted out of her room. As she ran, she hit _Call Back_ on her phone.

_Br-r-r-r-r-r…_

“Come on, pick up, pick up!”

_Br-r-r-r-r-r…_

“Hello?”

“Hi! Hi, Ms. Yukizome, it’s Chiaki!”

“Oh! Hello, Ms. Nanami. Did you get my message?”

_Ms. Nanami? Uh-oh._

“Yes, yes, I got it! I have my speech all ready to go, it’s all set!”

“Wonderful!… Are you alright? You sound out of breath.”

“I’m running over to campus right now!”

“…The ceremony isn’t until 8, Ms. Nanami. You don’t have to run.”

“I know! I just—feel like running!” Actually, yeah, why _was_ she running?

“Okay… Well, in that case, I’ll see you in the auditorium!”

“Wait! Wait, Ms. Yukizome, you said—you said something about having a talk when I see you?”

“Oh, yes, I did, didn’t I? Yes, I’d like to speak with you before the ceremony, in private.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“I can’t discuss it over the phone, I need to be able to see your face.”

“Really? Are you sure we can’t just—”

“I will speak to you, in person, at the auditorium when I arrive.”

“But Ms. Yukizome—”

“That is _final.”_

“…Okay.”

“I’ll see you soon. Have a good morning!”

She hung up before Chiaki did.

Chiaki looked at her phone despairingly, the words _Call Ended_ burning into her eyes. This wasn’t good, this was the exact opposite of good. This was bad. Ms. Yukizome was calling her by her last name, refusing to tell her what she wanted to talk about—and worst of all, maybe, she didn’t say anything like “Relax, it isn’t that serious,” or “It’ll only take a minute”. She deliberately left Chiaki to marinate in her anxiety, which meant she _wanted_ her to be on edge. Very, very bad.

She zoomed past the fountain, quickly yelling, “Hey, Hajime, can’t talk, see you at lunch!” as she passed him by. She still didn’t know why she was running. Why was she running? Shouldn’t she be dragging her feet, wanting to delay the inevitable? That would be the logical thing. She felt like she was breaking some sort of rule, or code. Running to something she wanted to avoid.

She shook her head, sensing where her train of thought was going to lead to, and tried to focus on the terror she was feeling. The possibility of her being found out would probably lead to the whole class being outed as rule-breakers. Drinking?! They would _all_ get suspended for that! Especially when they found out how _often_ they were doing this! She crossed her heart frantically as she skidded around a corner, swearing to herself that she would never touch an alcoholic drink again if she made it out alive.

She reached the auditorium and swung the doors open, charging inside. She sprinted to the stage, where a few of the adminstrators were already seated in a semicircle, as well as the headmaster standing at his lectern. They looked at her with a mix of surprise and concern as she shot up the stairs, coming to a screeching halt in front of the headmaster’s lectern. “G—Good morning, headmaster!” she gasped, panting. “I—I have my—speech ready!”

The headmaster frowned, adjusting his glasses. “Good morning, Ms. Nanami. …Are you alright?”

“Huh?! Oh, I’m fine! Really! I just—I had a lot—of energy, and so—I ran!”

“Even though the ceremony won’t be starting until 8?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“…I dunno, headmaster,” she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “First-day jitters?”

His frown deepened. “Well… I suppose. But I must say, it’s strange to see you so… vivacious. Especially this early.”

“What time—is it?”

“It’s barely 6:30,” he said, pointing at the clock on the opposite wall. Chiaki followed his gaze, heart sinking when she saw the truth of his words. “Oh… Okay.” She straightened up, clutching the straps of her backpack. “I’ll, um… I’ll just wait in the audience, then.”

“Alright,” he nodded, smiling a little. “Just don’t get lost in a game, alright? We need you to be present when the ceremony starts.”

“Yeah. You got it,” she said, shuffling down to the rows of seats waiting below, and crashed down into a seat in the front row, tossing her backpack underneath it. Her heart was still pounding against her ribs, almost painfully so. If she had a flatter chest, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see some sort of bruise start to form after the beating her breast was taking. Her lungs hurt like hell too, and her throat screamed with every inhale aggravating her windpipe. Gods, the longer she sat, the more everything started to hurt! No need to worry about having a DP/DR episode anymore, this was _real_ pain. Nothing warded off an episode like hurting all over.

She tipped forward, head pressing against her knees as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Bad idea, bad idea,” she muttered to herself. “Bad, bad, bad idea.”

“What was a bad idea?”

Chiaki froze, and suddenly the pain in her body was overshadowed by a fresh wave of fear. She looked up, hoping beyond hope she was mistaken who was there.

Chisa Yukizome stood over her, hands on her hips and a bright smile on her face. “Hiiii!”

* * *

 “H-Hi, Ms. Yukizome,” Chiaki stuttered. She knew that face. That was the face she’d worn when she’d announced her intent to ensure full attendance, even if it meant dragging each and every one of them across the whole campus. The face that usually preceded the words, “You wanna talk _suffering?”_ This was the beginning of the end.

Ms. Yukizome sat down right next to her. “So, you ran all the way here after all?”

“Yeah… bad idea.”

“Maybe. Maybe not! At least you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to get back into the school spirit! Right?”

“R-Right!”

Ms. Yukizome’s smile, impossibly, widened. “Wonderful! I love to hear that kind of enthusiasm from our class rep!” She clapped her hands together. “Which re _minds_ me! I wanted to talk to you when I got here, didn’t I?”

“…Yes, you did.”

“I thought so.” She stiffly unclasped her hands. “I assume you know why?”

“I—I think so, Ms. Yukizome.”

“Well, then let’s be sure we’re on the same page! Wouldn’t want you to assume I mean one thing when I mean another!” She cleared her throat dramatically. “So. I was on-campus on Friday afternoon.”

Chiaki felt her stomach drop. “Okay…”

“I happened to be walking through the dormitories on my way to see Headmaster Kirigiri.”

“Okay…”

“And who should I see but Ms. Mioda and Mr. Hinata, discussing plans for a back-to-school party!”

Chiaki could feel the hammer being raised, preparing to slam the last nail in the coffin.

“And as they walked away, I heard Ms. Mioda mention _you!_ You know me, of course, any time I hear about you, I start thinking about what you’re up to, how you’re doing. So, I decided to make a quick detour on my trip!”

The hammer was near the apex of its rise.

“Specifically, I went to the science building! Can you guess why?”

The hammer halted. What? “U-Um—I’m sorry, no.”

“Because, silly, I wanted to hear how you were doing with your new _treatment!”_

Chiaki froze again. This was not what she had been expecting—but she should’ve seen it coming. “My—my treatment…”

“When I got to the science building, I was lucky enough to find Ms. Kimura in her lab space! So I struck up a conversation with her!”

“What did you talk about?…”

“I asked her how she was doing, how vacation had been, if she had any plans for the weekend,” Ms. Yukizome grinned. “Then I asked her how things were going with your new treatment!”

That was when the hammer fell.

“And she told me that you’ve _completely abandoned it!”_

Ms. Yukizome’s smile was gone, replaced by an accusatory scowl. Her eyes scorched into Chiaki’s, and the girl had to look away. “Can you explain yourself, Ms. Nanami?”

Chiaki buried her head in her hands. “I’m sorry, Ms. Yukizome! I—I—I just—I tried them the first two weeks, but they didn’t really do anything!”

“That’s not what’s bothering me, what’s bothering me is that you didn’t go back to Ms. Kimura and _tell_ her that! She would be more than happy to provide you with something else!”

“I know! I just—… I don’t know, Ms. Yukizome, I just—I gave up on it! Nothing she gives me works!”

“And you didn’t tell _me_ that?! I’m your therapist, I can _help_ you find something that _does_ work!”

“We’ve been trying all _year,_ Ms. Yukizome!”

“Chiaki Nanami, I will not hear you say you’re giving up on yourself like that! You deserve better than that!”

“I don’t see the point! I’ve lived like this my whole life, I’m used to it!”

“Chiaki, we’ve _talked_ about this! Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s healthy! This is a serious mental disorder, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that we find a way to help you treat it! I can’t do that if you won’t talk to me!”

“I _know!_ It just feels so _useless!”_

Ms. Yukizome paused for a moment, growling in frustration. “Getting better is never easy. It’s like—it’s like level-grinding, remember? It’s level-grinding in real life.”

Chiaki tossed her head back in exasperation. “The game designers of real life implemented a broken levelling system! It takes ridiculous amounts of grinding to unlock even one level! Nearly every gamer on the planet would say it’s not worth the effort!”

“But you’re not just any ordinary gamer,” Ms. Yukizome said, holding up a finger. “You’re the Super High-School Level Gamer! I know you can beat this level, I know you can win this game!”

“I’ve tried! It’s just not worth it!”

“Not worth it? Not worth being able to fully experience the world, day in and day out? Not worth being able to look in the mirror and _know_ you’re looking at the real you? Not worth truly _living?!”_

Chiaki shut her eyes tightly, and put her fingers in her ears. Ms. Yukizome groaned. “You can’t just block this out, Chiaki, you have to face it at some point. It’s your mind, you’re the one who has to try to heal it.” Chiaki didn’t respond. “We’ll discuss this in group therapy, mark my words.”

She stood up and walked away. Chiaki kept her eyes shut, and her fingers firmly in her ears, sighing internally. She felt bad for letting Ms. Yukizome down, but she meant everything she said. It didn’t feel worth it. This was one goal that was too difficult to reach, and had little reward for all the effort it would take. It was easier to just roll with the punches. So when she felt her train of thought lead her down that rabbit hole again, she didn’t try to stop it.

* * *

Chiaki considered herself one of the luckier sufferers of DP/DR. Her episodes were frequent, but they only lasted for a few days at a time. She frequented the DP/DR subreddit a lot, and there she read stories about people who had episodes that lasted years, and spent more time in them than out. But, that still didn’t diminish the depth of her symptoms. She would stare at herself in the mirror for minutes at a time, struggling to see her reflection as _her_ reflection, trying to comprehend how it was anything more than an interface her mind was dreaming up to keep herself occupied. She would look at her classmates, and she would see NPCs, existing and interacting with her only to flesh out what felt like a fully-immersive game. She would talk, and they would respond, but no matter how real it sounded and looked and felt, there was something between her and them that made it all seem like an illusion. And it would terrify her, at times. She would truly believe, for days at a time, that the only thing she knew was true was her existence, and everything else was a lie. It would be fine if it was a passing thought, something to consider after a few drinks, but the idea plagued her. It corrupted her mind. She could escape it, but it always came back, and each time it did, she was left with the same sickening idea that nothing about this world was real. Worst of all, all it really took was thinking about it. Think a little too hard about it, and she would be right back where she started.

At times like these, the best defense she could come up with was, “If this is all just an illusion to keep me busy, I might as well let it keep me busy.” And she would play her role, trying to ignore the existential fright screaming in the back of her head until the spell lifted and she could believe again. But it was exhausting. Just playing along drained her. Trying to actively suppress it took more strength than she could muster.

So she sat in her seat, letting the disquieting sensation of detachment wash over her, and waited for the ceremony to start.

* * *

By about 7:30, the room started to fill up, and around 7:55, nearly everyone had shown up. She found herself flanked by Mahiru and the Impostor, who both looked a lot better than she felt.

“Hey, Chiaki!” Mahiru had greeted her. “How are you?”

“I’m in the middle of an episode right now,” she’d said dully.

“Oh…” Mahiru hadn’t had a good reply to that, so she let it drop.

The Impostor had been a little more responsive. “That sucks,” he’d said. “Hope you feel better soon.”

“Thanks, Ryota.”

“Did Seiko’s medicine not help?”

“No. Nothing has.”

“That’s really rough.”

“Yeah. Ms. Yukizome’s mad that I stopped taking it.”

“She’s gonna bring that up in therapy, isn’t she?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll try to distract her… if I can.”

“Thanks, Ryota.”

She let out a huge yawn, eyes tearing up a little. “Why’d I come here so early…?”

“Ms. Nanami?”

Chiaki looked up, jolting a little in her seat when she realised the headmaster was standing right in front of her. “Oh!—Hello, headmaster.”

He smiled warmly. “It’s nearly time for the ceremony to start. Would you care to join us onstage?”

She blinked in surprise. “—Oh. Oh, um—okay. Sure.”

She followed him up to the stage, and he gestured to an empty seat at the front of the semicircle. Someone was sitting immediately to the right of it. _Oh,_ she remembered, looking around at the other seats. _Look at that._

She was sharing the stage with the Hope’s Peak Academy Steering Committee.

_No pressure or anything, headmaster?_ she snarked in her head as she sat down, adjusting her uniform surreptitiously. _Putting me next to the Committee?_ She was really glad she didn’t know any of them by name. Being within 5 feet of them was enough heart-pounding anxiety for one day.

Looking a little more closely, the Committee wasn’t the only group in the semicircle. There were a few other, more recognisable faces sprinkled in there: Ultimate Student Council President Soshun Murasame; Ultimate Secretary Shinobu Togami; Class 76 Rep and Ultimate Illustrator Kasumi Morioka; someone who had a nametag that read Tokuichi Towa; and someone with the nametag Kaoru Shingetsu. She recognised the name Towa from the Towa Group—specifically their cutting-edge technology division, whose logo was stamped on half of her consoles. Shingetsu rang a very faint bell, but she couldn’t remember where from. Something to do with Hope’s Peak… probably.

She was semi-familiar with the students in the semicircle, but none of them were in her class. Soshun Murasame was in Class 77-A, as was Shinobu Togami, and Kasumi Morioka was in the year above her. She knew Kasumi the best out of all of them, since the Reps all met separately from the Student Council fairly more often than they were invited to full meetings. She couldn’t really call any of them her friends, though, not like her classmates. Hope’s Peak’s scheduling all but ensured each grade were separated during classes. Although, wait a second, hadn’t Hajime mentioned that there were going to be changes to the curriculum this year? Maybe that would change the dynamics of the intra-class relationships.

The clock struck eight, setting off a cascade of bells, and the auditorium fell silent. The headmaster, who had been chatting idly with the front row, ascended the stairs and approached the lectern.

“Good morning, Classes 76 and 77 of Hope’s Peak Academy! Welcome to another school year.”

There was a loud round of applause from the audience. Chiaki could single out Akane and Fuyuhiko’s whooping from the left side of the stage.

“Class 76, I know you’re excited about this year being your last, and I certainly am too. You’ve made tremendous progress as a class, and you’ve earned the privilege to be proud of yourselves. Just make sure you continue applying your skills and studying hard, because you haven’t graduated yet!” That earned him a few laughs. “And Class 77, congratulations: you’re no longer the youngest members of the school!” More cheering from her classmates, including some celebratory whistles from Nekomaru and Nagito. “Your progress is admirable, especially given the tumult from last year. Not to name any names, but the Academy reminds you to please refrain from doing anything dangerous or _destructive_ on, or _to,_ school property unless you have _express permission_ from myself or someone else in the administration.” Chiaki caught Nagito’s eye, and he winked mischievously. “I know you all have tremendous potential in you, and I hope we can start to fully unlock it this year.

“Now, before I formally introduce the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak Academy to you all, there are a few major changes I would like to announce pertaining to curriculum and off-campus conduct, as well as some minor announcements regarding this semester’s big events.”

The audience was rapt as he pulled out some notecards from his breast pocket. “The first and most major change: Effective immediately, the Hope’s Peak Academy Reserve Course will be granted full access to the Ultimate campus during school hours. This decision was reached after complaints from Reserve Course students and Ultimates alike were taken into consideration by the Steering Committee. Reserve Course students will _not_ be allowed into Ultimate _classes,_ however, and must obtain the signature of their homeroom teacher before they may join any clubs.

“This leads directly into the next change: To form a club, an Ultimate student must designate a meeting place and timeslot, obtain the signatures of at least five Ultimates, or three Ultimates and four Reserve Course students, as well as the signatures of a supervising teacher and the headmaster. At this time, no Reserve Course student may start a club open to Ultimates; only Ultimates may start clubs open to Reserve Course students.

“Thirdly: Following several complaints from Ultimate students, the Hope’s Peak Academy Super High-School Level curriculum is being modified thusly: the Research class will be rescheduled to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, immediately following lunch. However, to offset time lost by eliminating the class from Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday’s schedule, Research will be extended to 2 hours per period, which will ensure the total time per week remains at 6 hours.

“And lastly, anybody who becomes involved in physical and/or destructive violence of any sort, on- or off-campus, will be suspended for one full week. No exceptions.

“That’s all the major changes that are taking effect this year. In summary, the Reserve Course is allowed on this campus, and to join your clubs; Research is twice as long, but half as frequent; and you will be suspended for a week if you get into any fights or destroy property. Make sense?” There was a brief rumble of chatter from the audience. “Good. Now, on to some more lighthearted announcements.

“This semester, Class 76 will be given the honour of producing this year’s Halloween play, in which all of Class 77 will star! Class 76, I have high hopes for this production, especially considering that you have Ultimate Playwright Hideo Kirunaka in your ranks. I know he’s been looking forward to this for quite some time, isn’t that right?” Somebody—probably Hideo—let out a loud cheer, and his classmates gave him a round of applause. “The play is scheduled, as always, for the 31st of October, not long after the start of the second semester. Your homeroom teachers will be announcing when rehearsals will begin some time in the near future. Class 76, you have full creative liberty with this project, so long as it is within budget!

“Now, for this next announcement, could I have Mr. Towa and Dr. Shingetsu join me up here?” Towa and Shingetsu both stood up and joined the headmaster at the lectern. “Mr. Towa and Dr. Shingetsu, two of the nation’s finest minds, are joining forces with Hope’s Peak Academy to not only modernize the campuses, but to push them _beyond_ modern and into the _future!_ Towa Group and Shingetsu Labs will be installing state-of-the-art technology all across the Academy the next two months, all of which will be available to students and faculty by the time it is completed! So, can we give Mr. Towa and Dr. Shingetsu a big round of applause for their generosity and hard work?” The applause this time was much more restrained, but Towa and Shingetsu both smiled and waved modestly before returning to their seats. “I personally am excited to see what exactly will be installed. I don’t know all of the details, but I can tell you all, it will be very exciting.”

“The last thing I have for you before I introduce the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak Academy is a quick update on the courtyard situation: We’ve re-sown the grass into the new topsoil, but please do not walk through it until it’s all grown back. Stay on the paths.

“Alright! Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you: the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak Academy!”

The double doors under the clock opened, and Class 78 entered the auditorium.

Chiaki couldn’t help but smile at the sight. After having seen them all in their eclectic outfits at the party, looking like characters out of an epic RPG, it was kind of adorable to see them all dressed in the Hope’s Peak Academy Ultimate uniform. It made them seem more like normal high-school students—well, aside from their physical appearances, which no amount of clothing could distract from. She spied a familiar ahoge sticking out from somewhere in the front of the line, and her smile broadened. Makoto looked the most adorable out of them all. It helped that he was so much shorter than pretty much everybody in the class—if you took Chihiro out of the picture, then he would probably be the shortest, maybe tied with Aoi.

She waved at them all as they climbed onto the stage.Some of them waved back. Some didn’t. She didn’t mind incredibly much. She tried to catch Chihiro’s eye, but the girl was too busy being nervous and looking straight ahead to notice.

“We have an amazing class this year,” the headmaster said as they lined up. “Some of you may already know them, but I will introduce them to you anyway.

He walked to the far end of the stage. “Chihiro Fujisaki, Ultimate Programmer!” Chihiro bowed as the audience clapped. “Aoi Asahina, Ultimate Swimmer! Makoto Naegi, Ultimate Lucky Student!” Chiaki could swear she heard Nagito shout something about hope as Makoto bowed. “Touko Fukawa, Ultimate Writer! Celestia Lubenberg, Ultimate Gambler!” Ah. There was the first Ultimate whose talent was a little bit shady. “Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Pop Idol! Kyouko Kirigiri, Ultimate Detective!” Chiaki couldn’t see his face, but she heard something in the headmaster’s voice shift slightly at his daughter’s name. Family history, maybe? …Best not to dig deeper on that one. “Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista! Mukuro Ikusaba, Ultimate Soldier! Hifumi Yamada, Ultimate Otaku!” Otaku? Oh boy, there was a strange talent. “Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Baseball Player!” Leon? _Baseball?_ He looked like he and Ibuki belonged in a band together or something, the way he was dressed! “Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Ultimate Moral Compass! Yasuhiro Hagakure, Ultimate Clairvoyant!” Hmm… Can 30% accurary be called _Ultimate,_ or is clairvoyancy _that_ inaccurate? “Byakuya Togami, Ultimate Scion! Mondo Oowada, Ultimate Biker Gang Leader!” _Note to self: do not anger Mondo._ “Sakura Oogami, Ultimate Martial Artist! Ladies and gentlemen, the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak Academy!” The class bowed in unison, and the headmaster gestured them to their seats in the audience. “We have a few speeches for you all before classes begin. To start with, allow me to introduce to you the class representative for Class 76, Kasumi Morioka!”

Kasumi stood up, smoothing down her uniform, and stepped up to the lectern. “Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Hope’s Peak! It’s wonderful to see so many bright faces, especially on the first day back. I know I’m certainly excited to be back.” She cleared her throat. “So, Class 78, let me congratulate you on doing something as amazing as being admitted to Hope’s Peak. That takes an extraordinary amount of talent to achieve, and I know you wouldn’t be here today if you were any less than what you are right now. This academy is a very special place. You’ll quickly find that it more than lives up to its reputation. Ask any of your senpai, they’ll tell you that they’ve learned more here than anywhere else they ever been, and some of us have come from across the globe. You’ll learn a lot about your talent, about yourself, and most importantly, you’ll learn how to use your talent so that when you graduate, you’ll be guaranteed to thrive in the real world. As Ultimates, we have a duty to the world at large to become the best we can be, so we can spread hope and lead the way to a bright future. That’s what Hope’s Peak is all about. If you work hard, develop your talent, and constantly strive to better yourself on every level, you will graduate ready to take on anything that’s thrown at you. This academy will make sure that your talent is put to proper use, and that you can become the best version of yourself. So, once again, congratulations on making it into Hope’s Peak Academy, and I hope you have a great first year!”

The audience clapped politely as Kasumi returned to her seat. Chiaki clapped, but internally she was non-plussed. It was a decent speech, but it would blend right in with all the others. Talking about how Hope’s Peak was the greatest influence they would have in their lives, how the school would mold them into the tools of hope, meant to sculpt out this perfect world the Academy would dictate for them. The concept chafed against her like an ill-fitted shirt. The Academy wasn’t the most important thing in these students’ lives here, it was each other. Friends, not talent, that’s what really mattered. Hajime had once subscribed to that idea that talent was the only truly important thing, but she had convinced him otherwise. The difference between the old Hajime and the new was immediately noticeable: he smiled more, he was less stressed, he was less broody and more lively. He seemed happier.

So, when Chiaki heard her name and approached the lectern, she knew exactly what she wanted to tell these students before the school year really started.

“To the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak Academy…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Octobersanctuary on TVTropes, thank you for recommending this in the Fanfic Recs on the Danganronpa page.
> 
> Next time: Chiaki gives a speech.


	6. Beautiful Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still February, so technically I've disproven my own diagnosis of my updating habits. I've updated once in less than two weeks, but more than one. So. Yeah.

“Congratulations on making it this far. It takes an incredible amount of talent and work to even be considered for this school, and getting here is even harder. I know each of you deserves it.

“You’ll quickly learn that Hope’s Peak’s philosophy is one that puts your talent first. The cultivation of your Ultimate Talent is what will make you best able to become humanity’s symbols of hope for years to come, and it is our responsibility to make sure that you can achieve your highest level.

“That said, I would like to make a small adjustment to the Hope’s Peak doctrine: talent is _almost_ the most important thing. The most important thing, more than anything else, is doing something _with_ that talent. It’s one thing to have talent, but if you don’t use yours, you aren’t spreading hope the way this school teaches you to. Someone from the Reserve Course who has no talent, but gives the world everything they’ve got, can get more done than someone with every Ultimate Talent who gives nothing back. If you put your minds to it, and you really work to create something amazing, your talents will shine brighter than you can imagine.

“So take advantage of these next three years, as best you can. Hope’s Peak is an amazing academy, and it will prepare you to become the very best you can be. Just remember, though, if you’re ever feeling weak, if you’re ever feeling lost, if you’re ever feeling alone: you are not defined by your talent. You are defined by what you do in your life. A title doesn’t overwrite who you are unless you let it. I know you’ll all do great things here. Welcome to Hope’s Peak!”

The applause was audibly more enthusiastic this time. She smiled as she looked over at her classmates, who were clapping the loudest of all, and returned to her seat.

Okay, she hadn’t put an incredible amount of effrt into it, but then again, she hadn’t been expected to. These ceremonies were long enough already, she didn’t need to write out a five-minute rant about her ideals of hope and talent. Besides, looking at the faces of the Committee and the others onstage, she’d already pushed it enough as it was. She knew that it was a bit of a risk to make her speech honest, but she wasn’t going to sacrifice her honesty for the sake of the Hope’s Peak brand. She looked around the stage again, and to her surprise, the headmaster was looking directly at her, smiling approvingly as he clapped earnestly.

Wow. So the headmaster was on her team. That was a major confidence boost.

A few more speeches were made, all more along the lines of Kasumi’s than Chiaki’s, so she tuned out the words and let her mind wander, keeping one eye on the crowd so she knew when to clap and when a new speaker was coming to the lectern. She wondered idly, as Soshun Murasame gave his glowing praise of the Academy, what her classmates would say if they were able to make speeches. Well, Fuyuhiko and Mahiru would probably be barred from giving one at all, because they’d spend more time trashing the Academy than anything else. Akane and Nekomaru would get stuck talking about how awesome team spirit and good food were, then be cut off halfway in because they’d totally forget they were supposed to be talking about Hope’s Peak, not the time Akane had singlehandedly cleaned out an entire barbecue in two hours flat. Peko could give a good speech about Hope’s Peak if it was written for her; if not, she might push it by being a little brutally honest about exactly how the school ran, but probably not enough to be ejected from the stage by the Committee. Teruteru… well, who the hell knew with Teruteru. Nagito was another one who would be ushered back to his seat midway through, but that would be because he would start rambling and raving about the beauty of hope and how brightly the Ultimates would shine, getting a little too passionate and a little too lovingly descriptive to seem entirely stable. Gundham might make it all the way to the end of his, if he could restrain himself from declaring his dark supremacy and prophesising the doom of the mortal realm at the hands of himself and his Four Dark Devas of Destruction. Sonia would be an easy fit for a speech, given her Ultimate Talent and general enthusiasm, so long as she refrained from bringing up any of her more deviant interests in the process.

She was just starting to imagine how Ibuki would try to turn the speech into an impromptu concert when she noticed the headmaster was surreptitiously giving her a look as he approached the lectern. She quickly tuned back in.

“Alright, and for our final speaker, please join me in welcoming the Head of the Steering Committee, and Super Academy-Level Chief Executive Officer, Tadashi Zangō!”

The man sitting at the very back of the stage stood up. He was enormous, tall and broad-shouldered, and his face seemed to have a resting expression of deep thought on it. He strode confidently up to the lectern, took a few moments to gather his notes, and began to speak.

“Students of Hope’s Peak, it is my great pleasure to stand before you today, welcoming the 78th Class into our fold, and to inaugurate this school year. Truly, Hope’s Peak Academy has made immense strides since its inception decades ago by founder Izuru Kamukura, and I should know, because I myself was a member of the 1st Class that ever attended. We’ve learned more about Ultimate Talent, how it works, and what makes it special than anybody in the entire world. We’ve set the golden standard for education on a global scale. As a result, it has become even easier to realise Izuru Kamukura’s original dream for this Academy: the creation of Ultimate Hope, which can be spread to every citizen of this city, this country, this _world._ In short, we come closer to utopia every day. And we could not do it without you to help us all, for which we thank you.

“This brings me to a less pleasant, but necessary part of my speech: let me assure you, Hope’s Peak Academy is just as robust and financially sound as it has ever been. The addition of the Reserve Course has helped matters, but I stress again, as I stressed last year, the primary purpose of the Reserve Course is not to serve as a new source of income for the school, but to offer the very best in education to ordinary students with ordinary talent. The Course’s success brings me great joy, and I am proud that it will continue to operate this year, and hopefully far into the future.

“And as with any institution, the structure and operations that make it run must change in order to function in a modern setting. You’ll be seeing that, as Headmaster Kirigiri mentioned, with Towa Group and Shingetsu Labs installing new technology on campus, as well as the new alterations to school curricula and policies to accomodate your needs. Hope’s Peak Academy relies on its students more than any other group, and we want to make that as clear as possible, to you and to the world at large. Our goal will never change, no matter how it may seem it is. The cultivation of Ultimate Talent, and of Ultimate Hope, is what makes this Academy the beacon it is. So go forth this year with that knowledge in your hearts: you are the harbingers of Ultimate Hope, and we are here only to help you grow so you can achieve your highest capabilities. I wish you all a wonderful year, and to the 78th Class, welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy!”

The applause sounded very imbalanced from where Chiaki was sitting. The 77th and 76th classes were giving Zangō cursory, polite applause, but the 78th Class, the Steering Committee, and the other speakers were clapping the most enthusiatically they had the entire ceremony—with the exception of Headmaster Kirigiri. She started making mental notes as Zangō returned to his seat. Once again, the disconnect between student, faculty, and administration was coming into the foreground, and she had a sneaking suspicion that from the way the headmaster had directed her attention to it, this time she would be getting a closer look at exactly what was going on behind the scenes.

Zangō’s speech was also occupying a great deal of processing power in her mind. It sounded a lot like the speech from last year, from what she remembered of it, but knowing what, and more importantly _who_ she knew now, there was something lurking underneath the surface that was setting off a gut feeling. She could make the top-level connections easily, but she knew there had to be more to it. There was always more to the Steering Committee than what you could see or hear. Hopefully some of her classmates were also noticing what Zangō had said and finding the problem.

Headmaster Kirigiri returned to the lectern. “Thank you, everybody, for being here to take part in the entrance ceremony of the 78th Class of Hope’s Peak Academy, and the welcoming ceremony of another school year! Thank you for your attention, and have a spectacular first day of classes. You are dismissed!”

* * *

“Well, class, how _is_ everyone today?!” Ms. Yukizome exclaimed, bursting into the room with a bright smile.

“I’m tired as shit!” Fuyuhiko complained. “I was getting used to waking up at 8, and now I’m at _school_ by 8:30?”

“Seriously!” Hiyoko agreed. “I was so comfortable being in bed until 9!”

“Well, at least you seem to have accepted that you are expected to show up regardless of how much you want to sleep!” Ms. Yukizome said, proudly placing her hands on her hips. “A big improvement from this time _last_ year!”

“Can we not bring that up again?!” Kazuichi pleaded. “I don’t need to keep being reminded about how I got hit by a _truck_ because of Komaeda’s Ultimate Bullshit!”

“Seriously, Day One was a mess and a half!” Mahiru said.

“Well, since you all are here, _on time,_ we won’t have to repeat that, now will we?” Ms. Yukizome said pointedly. “And that means I can make some announcements that weren’t made at the welcoming ceremony!”

“Wait, there’s _more_ stuff going on?” Fuyuhiko groaned. “Didn’t they already give us enough shit to listen to?!”

“This is specifically for _our class,_ Fuyuhiko,” Ms. Yukizome said. “They wouldn’t shoehorn in class-only announcements into a school-wide ceremony. Anyway!

“So, the most important news first: Some of you already know this, but for those who don’t, Hajime Hinata will be joining us for classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays this year.”

“Really?!” Ibuki cheered. “Sweeeet!”

“Finally!” Sonia exclaimed. “I have been looking forward to this all year!”

“What’s the deal with that, anyhow?” Teruteru asked. “Why only Tuesdays and Thursdays?”

“I’m not allowed to say,” Ms. Yukizome said.

“Oh, so it’s one of _those_ things?” Akane guessed. “Like, the school doesn’t want you to give away some big secret or somethin’?”

“Yes, Akane, that’s exactly it!” Ms. Yukizome replied, so cheerily it was hard to tell if she was being sincere or not.

“What’s he doing the rest of the time?” Ryota asked. “Is he still going to the Reserve Course classes?”

“Yes, he’s still at the Reserve Course the rest of the week,” Ms. Yukizome said. “Which leads right into the next announcement! The Reserve Course students are free to access the Ultimate campus starting today, _but,_ you are _not_ permitted to enter the _Reserve_ campus.”

“Wait, what?!” Mikan exclaimed.

“What do you mean we aren’t allowed on the Reserve campus?” the Impostor asked.

“I mean what I said,” Ms. Yukizome said. “Ultimate students aren’t allowed on the Reserve campus.”

“So Reserve Course students have full access to the school grounds, but we are still barred from their campus?” Peko said incredulously. “That does not make sense.”

“Seriously!” Nekomaru said. “Why shouldn’t we be allowed over there?!”

“The Steering Committee made this decision, not me!” Ms. Yukizome said. “Their reasoning is that the Reserve campus has nothing to offer you that this campus doesn’t already have.”

“So fuckin’ what?!” Fuyuhiko growled. “My sister’s in the Reserve Course! Why can she come here to see me, but I can’t go over there to see _her?!”_

“I’m not saying I agree, Fuyuhiko, only that that’s the new policy,” Ms. Yukizome said. “If you want to complain about it—”

“Go to the front office and file a formal complaint to the Committee,” about half the class groaned in unison.

“The way _they_ see it, we’re already making them bend over backwards by allowing the changes they’ve already made!” Mahiru said. “Why would they keep listening to us now?”

“I don’t know,” Chiaki said. “If we got them to go this far, maybe we can ask them to go a little further.”

“That’s the spirit, Chiaki!” Ms. Yukizome beamed. “See, guys? Listen to your class representative and at least _try!”_

“I won’t be holding my fuckin’ breath,” Fuyuhiko muttered.

“I’m with Chiaki!” Nagito laughed. “Why should we give in so easily—”

“Cuttin’ you off right there, Hope Bagel,” Akane said, thrusting out her arm sharply in his direction. “Don’t need another one of your speeches!”

“I still have a couple more things to say!” Ms. Yukizome said. “As the headmaster mentioned, this year you will all be starring in the Halloween play, written and directed by Class 76.”

“I don’t like it,” Teruteru said. “Not all of us are exactly cut out for that sorta work, y’know?”

“I agree with Teruteru,” Ryota said. “Most of us aren’t theatre material…”

“Well, neither was Class 76 last year,” Sonia pointed out, “but they still put on quite a lovely performance!”

“Plus, I mean, this year they’re the ones writing it,” Ibuki said. “They’ll bang out something awesome no matter how good we are at it.”

“Yeah, Kirunaka _is_ the Ultimate Playwright,” Mahiru said. “He can make us look good.”

“If they had an Ultimate Director, I wouldn’t complain,” Hiyoko grumbled.

“I think it’ll be good,” Chiaki said. “Besides, it’s not for another six months. We’ve got plenty of time to work on it.”

“Well, it’s good to see that at least _some_ of you are on board with this!” Ms. Yukizome said. “I just have one more thing to announce: Starting today, in addition to the scheduling shift of Research, the _content_ of Research will be changing as well! This is part of the natural progression of the class, since it is your second year, so it’s nothing unexpected, but you can expect your time to be spent differently.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Akane asked.

“Basically they’re not going to be repeating last year,” Ms. Yukizome said. “I went through it too, and basically, they’ll be focusing on different applications of your talent. For instance, as Ultimate Housekeeper, I was once put in charge of the janitoral staff of the entire Academy!”

“Wait, the _whole Academy?!”_ Kazuichi exclaimed.

“Yes!” Ms. Yukizome nodded proudly. “It was a test of how well my talent would serve me when I was not the one cleaning! So, you’ll be finding out how your talent can be applied besides the way you currently use it! Kazuichi, you might be given the task of—oh, I don’t know, designing a new electrical system! Mikan, they might test how well you can create new medical procedures! The possibilities are endless!”

“Are they crazy?!” Kazuichi cried! “I’m a mechanic, not an inventor!”

“H-He’s right!” Mikan said. “I’ve never innovated groundbreaking medicine!”

“We’re Ultimates for a reason!” Mahiru said. “We’re good at what we _do,_ not what we _don’t_ do!”

“Come on, guys!” Ms. Yukizome groaned. “It’s not such a far leap to make, you know that!”

“And we have to do that shit for _two hours_ instead of just _one?!”_ Fuyuhiko said. “Screw that!”

“We don’t have it every _day,_ though!” Chiaki reminded him.

“These mortals do not understand with what they are toying,” Gundham rumbled. “Their meddlings will bring no fruit besides their destruction!”

“Guys, come on—” Nagito tried to cut in.

“Not hearin’ it, Hope Bagel!”

“Why can’t they just stop obsessing over our Talents?!” Hiyoko spat.

“They’re Hope’s Peak Academy, obsessing over talent is literally why they exist!” Chiaki said.

“Alright, can we table this for later?” Ms. Yukizome interrupted. “You still have a full day of classes to get through; finish those and we can discuss this afterwards!”

“In _therapy,”_ Hiyoko groaned. “Where we discuss _everything!”_

“You got a better idea?” Kazuichi snapped.

“Guys, arguing won’t solve anything!” Nagito chuckled nervously. “Let’s focus on the brighter side of things!”

Chiaki pulled her hoodie up over her head and tried to disappear as the argument continued, deafening the sound of her own thoughts.

* * *

By the time lunch rolled around, Chiaki’s mood had soured from irritated to fully angry. The complaints of her classmates followed her through all her morning classes, constantly interrupting the lessons with more griping about the new curriculum. Couldn’t they just let it drop for a _few hours?_

She felt a little better as she approached the fountain, where Hajime was waiting, bento in one hand and game controller in the other. He smiled and waved when he saw her, and she waved back half-heartedly.

“How’s it going?” he asked as they sat down on the edge of the fountain.

“Everybody’s really mad about the schedule changes,” she sighed, opening her bento box. “And they won’t stop complaining about it.”

“What about the schedule?” he asked.

“The Research class,” she said. “They don’t like the idea of it continuing.”

He shook his head. “I try to avoid thinking too hard about Research. It’s a waste of energy to get angry every time I hear it mentioned.”

“Exactly!” she said. “And that’s what _they_ do, they spend as long as possible bitching and moaning about the unfairness of it all! It’s been driving me crazy!”

“Well, hopefully now that I’ll be there some of the time, I can help you shut them up,” he smiled.

“We’re gonna have a rough time doing that,” she grumbled.

“…Well, if it makes you feel any better, this morning wasn’t really great for me either,” he said. “Everybody in the Reserve Course is mad that we can’t be in the same classes as you.”

“Makes sense. We’re mad we can’t go to your side of the school.”

“Wait, what?! You can’t go over to the Reserve campus?”

“No! They say it’s ‘because there’s nothing the Reserve campus can offer you that the Ultimate campus doesn’t already have’.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“It is."

They stewed quietly for a few seconds.

"Oh, also, we’re going to be the stars of the Halloween play this year.”

“That’s—!" Hajime suddenly paused. "Oh. That’s a good thing, right?”

“…Oh. Yeah. That is a good thing.”

“Do you know what it’s about?”

“No. Class 76 is writing it, then we’re performing it.”

“That sounds like a really short time to make an entire play.”

“Well, they have the Ultimate Playwright, so…”

“Oh. That makes it easier.”

“Yeah.”

“…If it’s all of Class 77, does that mean I’m in it too?”

“…I don’t know. I’ll have to ask Ms. Yukizome.”

“I’m not very good at it, but it would be fun to be a part of a play."

“None of us are any good." Chiaki snorted. "Except Ryota’s double, probably.”

“Yeah, they could be the best actor ever if they wanted.”

“But other than that, I don’t think you’d be any worse than the rest of us. Especially since we have people like Peko and Mikan.”

“Why do you think Peko would be a bad actor?”

“She’s just… so stoic.”

“…I can see that.”

“Mikan’s a gimme, of course.”

“Oh yeah. She would have a panic attack onstage or something.”

“…Hiyoko could probably do well. She’s good at putting on a smile for a crowd.”

“Would Ibuki be acting, or would she be leading the band like usual?” Hajime asked.

“I dunno. Maybe both?”

“I can see Ibuki doing one or the other, but not both.”

“She’s good at multitasking, she could probably pull it off.”

“…Chiaki, you’re about to faceplant into your food.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Did you sleep alright last night?”

“No. My hangover didn’t go away until, like, late last night. And I stayed up ’til 3 playing Final Fantasy. Then Ms. Yukizome called me and woke me up at 6.”

“Oh yeah! I saw you running to the gym.”

“Yeah, I said hi.”

“You literally ran straight past me.”

“But I said hi!”

“Why were you running?”

“I had to give a speech and I… wanted to be early.”

“You were already two hours early by then.”

“I wanted to be extra-early!”

“Were you?" Hajime snarked. "Or did a SimCity-level disaster slow you down to a more fashionably early entrance?”

“I got there in _plenty_ of time. So I just took it easy until the ceremony.”

“Did your speech go well?”

“…I think so. It wasn’t the usual type of speech, but everybody in the audience seemed to like it.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Hajime said,

“I’m really looking forward to starting Ultimate classes with you guys.”

“Me too. It’ll be really nice to have you be there.”

“Is there anything I should look out for?”

“Um… Ms. Yukizome can get really intense sometimes. So watch out for that.”

“Okay.”

“And… everybody can get rowdy. The classroom’s been rebuilt a bunch since last year.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I guess it’s better than the drama on the Reserve campus. Everybody’s all sort of dissatisfied still with the administration.”

“I know how they feel.”

They finished their lunch and spent the rest of lunch playing video games. Chiaki won easily, as usual, but Hajime didn’t mind. As they played, they moved onto lighter conversation, laughing about the things they’d heard in the hallways and what their plans were for the weekend, discussing the various types of gamers. Chiaki declared that Hajime, like her, was a story-oriented gamer, one who played to be immersed in the game’s universe, as opposed to a gaming-oriented gamer, who played to win. He had joked that the class could be split easily into story gamers and gaming gamers: Ryota, his double, themselves, Nagito, Mikan, Sonia, Gundham would be story gamers, and everybody else would be a gaming gamer. They spent a long time thinking of other ways they could categorise the class, as Chiaki obliterated him in a game of bowling.

Then, far too soon, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang out. “I guess it’s time to go back to class…” Chiaki sighed. “See you in class tomorrow?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he smiled. Then he laughed brightly. “It’s really great to be able to say that!”

Chiaki felt a wide smile pull at her own lips. “Yeah! That’s actually… that’s really amazing.” She threw her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. “I’m glad you’re gonna be with us.”

“Me too,” he laughed, hugging her back. “See you later, Chiaki.”

“See ya!” she waved, and they went off to their classes, a new spring in their steps.

* * *

Research, as Ms. Yukizome had promised, was not the same.

First off, they had changed the location. Now, instead of the Science building, Chiaki was directed to go the gymnasium, and to bring a notebook with her, as well as her games.

When she showed up, the headmaster was there, along with the researchers assigned to her, chatting amiably. “Oh! Hello, Ms. Nanami!” he greeted her. “Welcome to your new Research class.”

“Um—thank you, Headmaster!” she said, taken aback. “W-What are you doing here?”

“I’m shadowing all the classes this week,” he said. “It helps to have a finger on the pulse of the school.”

“Oh.”

The head researcher, whose nametag read **Dr. Azaki** , stepped forward. “So, Chiaki, as you’ve obviously figured out by now, this year’s Research course is going to be quite a bit different from last year’s.”

“Yeah…” she breathed, looking around the gym. “What exactly are we gonna be doing?”

“Today is going to be fairly simple,” Dr. Azaki said. “We’re going to go through a few tests, both written and physical, and from there we are going to determine which areas of your talent we will be focusing on this year.”

“Ms. Yukizome said that you’re looking for ways to apply our talents differently,” Chiaki said.

“Yes, in a way,” Dr. Azaki nodded. “Put simply, we are going to find out if we can find the limits of your _range_ of talent, as opposed to your _level_. Does that make sense?”

“Sort of?”

“Well, you’ll see what we mean once we get into it. Shall we get started?”

“Sure.”

The next hour was spent remeasuring Chiaki’s physical and mental attributes and how much she’d changed since the end of last year. Nothing much really had changed, in her mind, but the researchers were very interested in the minute differences between two weeks ago and today. They were always like this after a vacation, probably since it was more time away from their subjects that was being left unrecorded. They also got uncomfortably prying about how her DP/DR treatment was progressing, and for the second time that day, she had to confess to her abandonment of Seiko’s regimen. Dr. Azaki instructed her to see Seiko immediately after they were finished and restart the treatment. The headmaster gave her a sympathetic smile, which made her feel a little bit better, but not incredibly much. Then they tested her gaming reflexes, which she honestly thought was silly, because of _course_ they would be just as quick as they were last time, she’d been playing at least four hours every day, even at the party (which she was very careful not to mention).

Finally, the tests were finished. “Well, I’d say we’ve gotten a fairly good idea of where to begin,” Dr. Azaki said. “At least, I have.” The other researchers mumbled their agreement.

“What’re you thinking of doing?” Chiaki asked.

“Well, Chiaki, this may seem fairly obvious to you, but: your grasp of gaming is Ultimate. You know how they work, how they flow, what their final goals are, and so on.”

“Yeah…”

“So, we want to test how that knowledge manifests when you aren’t the _player.”_

“…I don’t get it.”

Dr. Azaki sighed, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Chiaki, we want to see if you can create your own game on an Ultimate level.”

Chiaki’s eyebrows shot up, disappearing under her bangs. “Like… like an Ultimate Game Developer?”

“Exactly,” Dr. Azaki smiled. “From start to finish, we want to see if you can create a game.”

Chiaki bit her tongue. “I don’t know… I don’t know anything about programming a game, or… or building a console. I can do some of it, but not all of it.”

“Have you ever tried either of those?” Dr. Azaki asked pointedly.

“Well… no.”

“Have you ever _thought_ about trying them?”

“…I’ve tried taking apart my game controllers and putting them back together before. But you’re not supposed to take those apart.”

Dr. Azaki chuckled. “Well, how about this: we’ll spend the rest of the class outlining a path to build a game, and we’ll make a schedule for you to follow so you can put your skills to the test. Does that sound good?”

Chiaki frowned. Making her own game sounded like a lot of fun, but on the other hand, she was no stranger to the amount of work making a good game took. It could take anywhere from a couple of months to years, depending on time and money. She didn’t know how far she could get, especially with all her other schoolwork on top of it… but it did sound like fun.

“Sure,” she nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Wonderful,” Dr. Azaki smiled. “Let’s get started.”

* * *

Chiaki left the gym an hour later, her backpack one booklet of paper heavier than before. The researchers had given her a list of steps that most developers followed in creating games, and the homework to create a schedule to go through these steps and craft her first game. The prospect was exciting—Chiaki Nanami, Ultimate Gamer and game developer. It sounded like something she could wear as a nametag at E3. Plus, having total creative liberty meant she could make whatever she wanted, with no restriction. The possibilities were endless!

But, she did have to do this on a schedule. And a budget. So the possibilities weren’t _endless._ But they were still pretty numerous. Especially at this stage, when concept was the only thing she needed to get started. This kept her feeling decently buoyant as she made her way to the Science building, distracted from the gnawing anxiety in her stomach as she weaved through the corridors to Seiko’s lab, unconcerned with her suddenly clammy hands as she knocked on the door—

After a few moments, Seiko opened the door. “—Oh. …Hello, Chiaki.”

“Hi, Seiko…” Chiaki murmured, looking down guiltily at her feet.

“Come inside,” Seiko sighed, pulling open the door. Chiaki shuffled in. “How was your break?”

“It was okay.”

“Hm.” Seiko sat back down in her chair. “So.”

“…So.”

“…The medicine I gave you didn’t work?”

“…No.”

“At all?”

“…No. Not really.”

Seiko’s face fell imperceptibly. “Did you experience any side effects? Anything at all?”

“I… I felt more energetic. A little.”

“Anything else?”

“…No, not really.”

“Hmm…”

Seiko scrolled through a few papers on her computer. “…It sounds like the medicine was helping your lethargy, but nothing else… I’ll need a few days to make something more effective. Can you come back… Thursday afternoon? Around 5?”

“Sure.”

Seiko looked up at her, eyebrows slightly creased. “You aren’t going to forget?”

“No. I promise.”

“…Okay.” She returned her gaze to the computer briefly, then looked back up at Chiaki. “If my medicine isn’t helping you, just tell me. It’s… not your fault.”

“I know,” Chiaki said. “…Bye, Seiko.”

“Good night, Chiaki.”

Chiaki padded out of the lab, taking care to shut the door silently behind her, and started walking toward therapy.

* * *

**Ibuki!**

**hey wyd**

**not much.  walking to therapy.**

**why?**

**im totaly freakin out rn**

**mikan got tix to see hamilton  
in november.**

**im so frickin excited omg**

**that’s really cool!**

**shes the best gf ever you have no  
idea**

**she got four tix so if u and hajime  
wanna come u totaly can**

**what’s the date?**

**its gona be the 5th**

**on broadway**

**wait, broadway? like NYC?**

**ye**

**how are you paying for airfare?**

**mikans payin her own**

**so am i**

**why, do you need $$?**

**uh, yeah?**

**i’m in high school.**

**i don’t have money.**

**i can float u som**

**really?**

**ye totaly**

**u guys r too gr8 to leave behind**

**thanks, ibuki.**

**for sure!~**

**but we get to go w/u guys next date  
u have after this**

**sure. sounds good.**

**sweet!**

**ok i gota go im comin up on therapy**

**see u there, cutie!~**

**bye**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: We see exactly what goes on in the average day of Mikan Tsumiki.


	7. Therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied! We get to see what one afternoon looks like in the life of Mikan Tsumiki.

**Ibuki❤️**

**how u doin?**  
****

**mikan?**

**where u at???**

**Sorry! I was doing my  
homework!**

**I’m okay.**

**chiaki-chan says hamilton  
is a go**

**Really? That’s great!**

**What about Hajime?**

**havent asked him yet**

**doin that tmrrw**

**Okay.**

**they have to bring us on  
there next date**

**dunno when that is yet  
but they gota**

**They’ll let us know.**

**How are you doing?**

**im so flippin exited**

**but im also super stressed**

**u feel**

**I’m really stressed out too.**

**Research is so different!**

**RITE???**

**its bs its fuckin bs**

**they told me i need to ‘branch  
out my genre’ or whatever**

**so guess what i gota do**

**What do you have to do?**

**I GOTA TAKE COMMISIONS**

**C O M M I S I O N S**

**FUCK THAT**

**Seriously?!**

**Why?!**

**they fuckin hate my music  
thats why!**

**this is gona be th worst fuvkin**  
**reserch class ever i swear to the**  
**gods**

**wht are they makin u do?**

**I have to teach everyone in PE  
how to *fight!***

**They want me to make a chart  
** **of all the weak spots in a**  
**person and work with Sakura**  
**in the 78th Class to make a**  
**new set of moves we can use to  
disable opponents!**

**WTF?????**

**that is such bullshit!**

**tell them to fuck off!!**

**I can’t do *that!***

**then ill tell them to fuck off  
for you!**

**thats such bs thats nowhere  
** **near what you use your talent**  
**for.**

**you shouldnt have to do that.**

**you shouldnt have to twist  
everything you do like that.**

**its not you and they should  
know that.**

**I told them that!**

**They said *that was the idea!!***

**ok im comin up on therapy**

**be there in a sec**

Mikan squeezed her phone in her hands, trying to resist the urge to throw it on the ground in frustration.It didn’t surprise her when she failed. Her phone hit a corner, and proceeded to cartwheel across the room, bouncing all the way to the other side before it hit the wall and fell over. She buried her head in her hands, letting out an angry growl. “Why, why, why, why, _why?!”_ She marched over to her phone and picked it up, feeling along the edges for any dents. Nothing yet. Well, that was about the only thing going _right_ right now.

She marched back to her chair and sat back down, just in time to see Hajime come in. “Hey there, Mikan,” he sighed tiredly. “How’s it goin’?”

She didn’t answer, only pressing her hands over her face.

Hajime didn’t say anything, shuffling over to his seat and setting down his backpack. After a brief silence, the door opened again.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Ibuki.”

Mikan didn’t look up. It wouldn’t take Ibuki long to—yep, there she was, pulling her hands away from her face and taking them in hers. “Don’t worry, Mikan-chan. Ibuki’s gonna give these fucking Research docs a piece of her mind for you!”

“But why would they listen?” she whined miserably. “We’re just _kids_ to them!”

“So what?!” Ibuki said. “They’re the ones who need _us,_ not the other way round! All else fails, we can just stop goin’!”

“And we’ll get _suspended,_ Ibuki!” Mikan said. “They already came close to expelling Nagito last year, remember?! And what did _he_ do?! Nothing! He only got suspension because they want his talent! If he was anybody else, he’d be _gone!”_

“Whoa, okay, ‘kay ‘kay ‘kay, hold up, Mikan-chan,” Ibuki said, tightening her grip on her hands. “Nobody’s getting suspended, nobody’s getting expelled. Nobody’s gonna get in trouble.”

“How can you skip Research and _not_ get in trouble?!”

“Ibuki’s gonna work it out, ‘kay? I’ll see what I can do, ‘cause this is BS and we shouldn’t have to put up with it. Just let me figure it out.”

Mikan bit her lip, nearly breaking the skin. “I really don’t like this…”

“It’ll be okay. I promise.”

Mikan shook her head slowly, trying to fight back panicked tears. “I don’t like it…”

“I’m gonna fix this. You can trust me.”

Ibuki released her hands, and wrapped her in a reassuring hug. “Ibuki’s got you. I’m gonna make sure they listen to us.”

Mikan couldn’t find it in herself to say she was okay with it. Instead, she silently returned the embrace, for a few seconds. She felt a little spark of gratitude when Ibuki let go after she did.

Ibuki sat down in the chair next to her. “Anyways, other than that, how was your day?”

“…The same, I guess,” she hummed noncommittally. “Nothing really interesting happened.”

“Well, that’s nice,” Ibuki said. “At least there weren’t any nasty surprises.”

“Yeah…”

Chiaki came in next, hood pulled up over her head. She silently padded over to the circle and sat down next to Hajime. Mikan smiled weakly at her, and she smiled back with equal listlessness. “Hey hey.”

Mikan waved back.

Ms. Yukizome’s entrance was jarringly cheery after so many sullen faces. “Good afternoon, everybody! How are we doing so far?”

“Today’s been tiring,” Hajime said. The others nodded and mumbled in agreement.

“Tiring? Why’s that?” she asked, sitting down at the head of the circle.

“First day back,” he said. “New stuff to take in. New routine.”

“Research sucked,” Ibuki said. Mikan nodded silently.

“Really?” Ms. Yukizome said, eyebrows arching. “Why?”

“Their bullshit assignments!” Ibuki exclaimed. “They want Mikan-chan to be doing some martial-arts crap with her talent, and I’ve gotta take _commissions_ for music! It’s totally messing with our talents in a really _uncool_ way!”

“Well—I’m not sure what to say,” Ms. Yukizome admitted awkwardly. “That’s what they do in your second year. Did they use the depth versus range analogy?”

“Yup,” they all droned.

“Depth versus range my ass,” Ibuki grumbled. “I don’t do commissions. If Ibuki’s not into it, it isn’t gonna sound good.”

“What about you, Mikan?” Ms. Yukizome asked. “How do you feel about your assignment?”

“I don’t like it,” she squeaked. “It—It—…” The words died in her throat.

“Well, maybe we can talk about this again once everybody gets here,” Ms. Yukizome said.

“I’m going to be making a game,” Chiaki volunteered dully.

“Really?” Hajime said, perking up. “What kind of game?”

“…I dunno,” she said. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“What’re you doing, Hajime?” Ibuki asked.

“Me?” he said. “You know the drill.”

“Why can’t you say?” Mikan asked, for the thousandth time.

“Hope’s Peak won’t let me,” he sighed, for the twelve-thousandth time. “And if I go rogue I’ll get in a ton of trouble.”

“Can you at least give us a _hint?”_ Ibuki pressed.

He let out a huff of air through his nose. “…I can tell you after summer break. That’s _all_ I can say.”

“What’s so special about summer break?” Mikan asked.

“Seriously, that’s all I can get away with saying,” he said. “Sorry.”

“Do _you_ know, Ms. Yukizome?” Ibuki said, pointing her finger at the teacher accusingly.

“No, I don’t,” she said plainly. “Nobody in the faculty does.”

“Really? That sounds sus to me, teach!”

“What do you want me to say?” Ms. Yukizome laughed. “Even if I did know, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you anyway!”

“Are you guys seriously _still_ talking about this?” Fuyuhiko groused as he sauntered in, Peko barely two steps behind. “Just leave it alone, for fuck’s sake…”

“Thank you, Fuyuhiko, I think…” Hajime said.

“I’m just tired of everybody’s blabbing,” the yakuza said as he sat down. “Seriously. ‘Oo, Hajime-chan, whatcha do today? What super-secret shit’s goin’ on for the Hope Boy? Tell us Hope’s Peak’s deepest darkest secrets’! It’s annoying as hell!”

“Did I hear my name?”

“Oh, hey there, Nagito,” Fuyuhiko said. “You’re sick of everybody asking Hajime about his talent too, right?”

“I don’t bother myself with something so trivial,” the Luckster laughed airily, sitting down next to Chiaki. “The fact that he has an Ultimate Talent is enough for me to marvel at!”

“Nagito, you’re being weird again,” Hajime muttered through his hand.

“See?” Fuyuhiko said to Ibuki. “Even our Hope’s Peak fanboy isn’t worried about it.”

“Ibuki’s not _worried,_ Ibuki’s _curious!”_ Ibuki shot back. “Why all the secrecy?”

“Y’know, usually when someone hides something, they don’t want it to be found until it’s _time!”_

“Is Fuyuhiko-chan _defending_ Hope’s Peak??”

“If it’ll shut you up about it!”

“Okay guys, let’s stop arguing about this,” Ms. Yukizome interrupted. “You’ll get dizzy running in circles like that.”

Teruteru swung open the door, closely followed by Mahiru and Hiyoko. “Hey y’all!” he sang. “Long time, no see!”

“Every time you say that, it becomes a little more irritating,” Mahiru said.

“Aw, have a little more pep in your step about it!” the cook said. “I can’t be the only one livenin’ up the room!”

“Don’t worry, Nekomaru and Akane aren’t too far behind,” Mahiru said to the circle.

“What about everybody else?” Mikan asked.

“Hell if I know,” Hiyoko sneered. “Surprised Princess Sonia and her boy-toys aren’t here yet.”

“They have _names,_ y’know,” Hajime sighed.

“Boy-toys doesn’t take as long and it works better for them anyway,” the blonde said, flicking her hand dismissively. “So, anybody else sick of school already?”

“Hiyoko, not now,” Peko said.

“I’m ready to go back to the darkroom,” Mahiru huffed. “Research was really tiring.”

“Everybody so far has fucking hated Research,” Ibuki scowled. “Join the club.”

“Okay, I could use some cheering up right now,” Hajime said. “Can we drop the whole Research thing, please?”

“Thank you,” Chiaki sighed.

“…Anybody do anything fun at lunch?” Ms. Yukizome asked.

“I hung out with some of the freshies,” Hiyoko said. “They seem to be doing okay.”

“Are they still awkward after the party?” Ibuki asked.

Mikan felt her heart jump in her chest at the mention of the party. Should they be talking about that in front of Ms. Yukizome?! This could go horribly wrong!

“Not really,” Hiyoko shook her head. “Not the ones I hung out with, at least.”

“Who’d you hang out with?”

“Um… that punk-lookin’ guy, the biker dude, and… the programmer chick. They were out by the baseball diamond and I decided to say hello.”

“So _that’s_ where you were at lunch,” Mahiru said.

“Oh! I bumped into Makoto Naegi on my way to lunch today,” Nagito said.

“Bumped into, or ‘intentionally searched for’?” Chiaki snarked.

“Nothin’s pure chance with Ultimate Bullshit,” Ibuki agreed.

“I didn’t go looking for him,” Nagito laughed. “We ate lunch together. I didn’t scare him off with a Hope ramble. He’s a good kid.”

“Wow. Points to Nagito Komaeda for reining in his love for hope,” Teruteru said with a smirk.

“Hope Bagel held back a Hope ramble?” Akane called out from the door. “Way to _go_ , Na-gi- _to!”_

She skipped over to him and gave him a double high-five. “Ehehe! Thank you, Akane!” he laughed awkwardly.

“No prob, man.” She crashed down into her seat. “Hey, Coach! Hope Bagel held back a Hope ramble today!”

“You’re shitting me!” Nekomaru bellowed as he jogged in. “Good going, Nagito! Your training is paying off!”

“I didn’t realise it was such a big occasion!” Nagito said, vague smile still plastered on his face.

“They’re just giving you a hard time,” Hajime said.

“Gahahaha! Of course we are!” Nekomaru laughed. “It’s funny to laugh at someone’s strange habits!”

Sonia came in next, and sure enough, Kazuichi and Gundham were hot on her heels. “Apologies for our lateness!” she exclaimed. “We were held up in the elevator!”

“By _what?”_ Fuyuhiko asked.

“We got a bunch of 76ers shoved in with us,” Kazuichi grumbled. “Seemed like they were going to literally every single floor on the way down!”

“Nevertheless, our dark aura warded them off swiftly enough,” Gundham intoned. “Although I suspect the presence of a certain mortal temporarily weakened the resolve of my Four Dark Devas, which would explain why they did not leave sooner.”

“He means his hamsters were trying to get into Ruruka’s pockets,” Kazuichi said.

“Fiend!” Gundham exclaimed. “They are not so weak-willed as to willingly approach such impurities as mortal confections! They need nothing more than the dark energy that is constantly and plentifully generated by the forces of evil that lurk beneath this planet’s surface and in the darkness of the night! What you saw can only be explained as the concotions of a clever she-witch lacing those abominations!”

“Whatever,” Kazuichi said.

The doors crashed open, and Ryota entered, dragging his double by the ankle.

“No! No! I just need to finish a few more panels!”

“Come _on,_ we’re already late!”

“I’ll give you anything! I’ll let you have top bunk! I’ll give you my chips! Anyth-hi-hing!”

“We have to be here! Stop struggling!”

Ms. Yukizome stood up and spun around. “Ryota! So good to see you both! I was wondering if we would have to have a repeat of last year!”

That caught the larger Ryota’s attention. “Ah! M-Ms. Yukizome!” In a spectacular acrobatic display, he kicked free of his friend’s hand and rolled onto his feet in one fluid motion. “No need for that, ma’am! Ryota is here and ready to be present!”

Ms. Yukizome clapped her hands together. “Wonderful! Have a seat, boys!” They quickly zipped over to their seats, completing the circle. “Is that everybody?” She did a quick head-count. “I think so! Alrighty then, let’s get started!”

* * *

“…so she said to come by on Thursday at 5 to pick up my new prescription,” Chiaki finished.

“Thank you for seeing her, Chiaki,” Ms. Yukizome said. “She’s there to help.”

“I know,” the gamer sighed sadly. “It just doesn’t feel worth it sometimes.”

“Treatment is never easy,” Ms. Yukizome shook her head sympathetically. “But even showing up is a step in the right direction.” She swivelled a little to her left. “And how about you, Hajime? How are you feeling today?”

“I’m feeling about the same as on Friday,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing really to distract me, but once homework and everything starts, I’ll probably be too busy to think about everything else.”

“Do you think that being with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be a boost to your mood?” she asked.

“Definitely,” he nodded. “It’ll be good to be around everyone more often. “

“I’m glad to hear that!” She looked down at her clipboard, frowning a little. “And… how has the hobby search been going? Has anything captivated your interest yet?”

“Nothing really,” he admitted. “I’m sort of out of ideas at this point.”

“Well, how about we come up with some for you?” she suggested. “Guys, what do you think Hajime might enjoy as a hobby?”

“Have you tried runnin’?” Akane suggested. “Runnin’s a real good way to keep your mind off’a things.”

“Yes!” Ibuki exclaimed. “Running is awesome!”

“I don’t know,” he smiled weakly. “I don’t really have the stamina for running.”

“Neither do I!” Ibuki said. “I just do a lap around the block and I’m out like a light when I get back!”

“You’ll get your stamina up anyhow,” Akane added. “The more ya run, the more ya _can_ run, y’know?”

“Nekomaru could totally help you out!” Ibuki squealed. “He’s the perfect motivator!”

“I’d love to!” Nekomaru laughed enthusiastically. “Hell, I’d take the whole class on a daily run if I could!”

“Pass!” Fuyuhiko called out.

“Okay, so running’s on the table,” Ms. Yukizome said. “Any other suggestions?”

“I’d say sailing, but boats are expensive as hell,” Kazuichi said. “I know you like boats, but… yeah. Bit too pricey.”

“Maybe you should ask around campus tomorrow,” Chiaki suggested. “See what other people have to say.”

“Maybe,” Hajime said. “I dunno.”

“Alright, well, see if you can find something between now and Friday,” Ms. Yukizome said. “If you can’t, we’ll help you find something.”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright… Mikan! How’s life going for you?”

“Huh?!” Mikan exclaimed. “…Oh. Um… it’s—it’s okay, I guess.”

Ms. Yukizome smiled knowingly at her. “Mikan, be honest.”

Mikan bit her lip. “Mmf…! …It’s—I’m—I’m really not liking the new courses! I was just starting to feel comfortable with the ones we had, and now they’re all different!”

“Any courses specifically?” Ms. Yukizome asked.

Mikan buried her head in her hands. “Research! It’s Research!”

The class collectively groaned. “That makes what, six for nine?” Fuyuhiko said.

“What about Research is bothering you?”

Mikan balled her hands up into fists. “I have to teach everyone to fight next week! I have to make a chart of weak spots on a person and work with Sakura in the 78th Class and come up with a fighting technique that can be taught in one class!”

“You _serious?”_ Akane exclaimed. “That’s really not cool!”

“Agreed!” Mahiru said. “She’s a nurse, not a fighter!”

“I’m finding the new level of Research less and less appealing with every testimonial,” Nagito hummed dissatisfiedly. “It sounds more like perversion of talent than anything else.”

“Yes! That’s it!” Mikan said, thrusting her hand towards Nagito. “You understand! It’s, it’s, it’s not _right!_ I’m not built for this!”

Ms. Yukizome sighed, setting down her clipboard. “This continuation of Research is usually hard for Ultimates to adjust to in the first couple of weeks, I understand. I did it too.”

“Yeah, but at least your stuff was _related!”_ Kazuichi said. “How do you get _software debugging_ out of _mechanic?!”_

“I also fail to see the point in this new stratum of the course,” Gundham rumbled. “My talent is singular and Ultimate, _not_ multi-faceted, as these uncomprehending ‘researchers’ claim it to be.”

“I know, I know!” Ms. Yukizome said frustratedly. “It’s a lot to ask of you, and believe me, I was _just_ as unhappy! I had no idea how to run a maintenance crew when I was assigned to it my second year! But you _will_ find out that there are other ways you can apply your talent, it just takes some trial and error to find what you can apply it to.”

“So they’re testing us without knowing what they’re looking for?” Peko scowled. “That sounds like a waste of time and effort on our parts.”

“It wouldn’t be called _Research_ if they knew what they were looking for,” Ms. Yukizome said. “It’s a difficult class, but it’s worth it when it’s all said and done. Just give it some time, and you’ll find something that sticks. It’s easier than it sounds.”

“I would be more inclined to agree if it did not seem like some of us are receiving less difficult assignments than others,” Sonia said. “For example, my assignment is merely to assess my skills as a student teacher over the next week, whereas Chiaki is expected to create an entire _game_ by herself, and Mikan must apply her healing skills to _fighting.”_

“It’s an imbalanced process, yes,” Ms. Yukizome said. “But trust me, they’ll cycle through assignments, and some will be noticeably easier or harder based on your talent.”

“Besides, it’s a little unfair to chalk up our talents as equal,” Hajime said. “Some of us have talents that are in more demanding fields than others. I mean, it’s a ton of work to become an Ultimate _anything,_ but it’s usually easier to learn how to cook than to lead a mob.”

“Point taken,” Teruteru said, “but it’s still fair to say that some of us are carryin’ a heavier load than others.”

“Well, we can continue going on and on about this all afternnon, but for now, why don’t we bring this to an end?” Ms. Yukizome said. “In the meantime, how about we come up with a way that we can all let out our frustrations so we can be ready to come back tomorrow feeling better?”

“Punching bags! Punching bags!” Ibuki crowed.

“I agree!” Nekomaru thundered. “A healthy way for us to let out our anger!”

“I could use something’ to pound my fists into!” Akane said, cracking her knuckles.

“O-Okay, punching bags? We can do that,” Ms. Yukizome stammered. “All in favour of punching bags?”

The entire circle raised their hands.

“Okay then, punching bags…”

* * *

**Sonia**

**How are you feeling, Mikan?**

**Not good.**

**I’m getting stress sickness again.**

**Can I do anything to help?**

**No.**

**It’ll go away on its own.**

**I’m sorry.**

**It’s okay.**

**It’s not your fault.**

**How are you?**

**I’m very tired.**

**I couldn’t sleep last night.**

**Me neither.**

**Won’t be able to tonight,  
probably.**

**Would you like to come over  
to my room?**

**No thanks.**

**But thank you for the offer.**

**I just want to curl up and die for  
a few hours.**

**I hope you feel better soon.**

**Thanks.**

**Sleep well.**

**You as well. ☺️**

* * *

**Chiaki**

**i’m excited for hamilton**

**thanks for inviting us**

**I’m glad you can make it!**

**Ibuki said she’ll ask Hajime  
tomorrow.**

**okay. that sounds good.**

**you okay?**

**No.**

**I’m sick again.**

**stress sickness again?**

**Mm-hmm.**

**that sucks.**

**hope you feel better soon.**

**Thanks.**

**I feel like everyone is texting  
me.**

**do you want me to leave you  
alone?**

**No, it’s okay! I’m sorry!**

**I just feel really gross and  
nauseous.**

**do you want me to bring you  
some medicine?**

**No, thanks.**

**Actually, do you have sleeping  
pills?**

**yeah.**

**non-prescription.**

**i’ll bring some over.**

* * *

**Group**

**Fuyuhiko  
** **okay guys**

**ive got an idea**

****Ibuki**  
whats ur idea**

**Fuyuhiko  
you know the park**

**downtown**

******Chiaki****  
there’s a lot of parks  
downton**

**Fuyuhiko  
the fuckin amusement  
park you know what i mean**

**we should go there  
this weekend** **   
**

**spend the whole fuckin  
day there** **   
**

**saturday i mean**

****Mahiru**  
You mean ditch?**

****Fuyuhiko**  
yes i mean ditch jfc**

******Hiyoko****  
ms. yukizome will kill us**

****Fuyuhiko**  
and**

********Hiyoko******  
that’s it**

**Is this a good idea?**

****Fuyuhiko**  
why wouldnt it be**

**Ms. Yukizome *will* kill us!**

****Fuyuhiko**  
honestly punchin bags  
arent gonna cut it for us** **  
**

**we need to go rogue**

********Hajime******  
I can’t go.** **  
**

**I have to be at school.**

****Fuyuhiko**  
why**

**********Hajime********  
I have a meeting with  
Ms. Yukizome.**

****Fuyuhiko**  
jfc man** **  
**

**fine**

**********Hajime********  
Have fun.**

****Fuyuhiko**  
thanks**

********Chiaki******  
i can go.**

******Mahiru****  
^^**

********Hiyoko******  
same.**

**********Sonia********  
I will have to check my  
schedule.**

****Fuyuhiko**  
you have a fuckin schedule**

**weird**

**I have a schedule too.**

**It’s not *that* weird.**

**********Peko********  
I can go.**

****Fuyuhiko**  
of course you can go**

**********Akane********  
I’M DOWN FR THS**

**********Nekomaru********  
ME TOO**

****Fuyuhiko**  
ok jfc tone it down**

********Chiaki******  
what time would we go?**

****Fuyuhiko**  
i dunno**

**10ish**

**go back when they close**

**********Teruteru********  
i’m gonna be busy all day**

****Fuyuhiko**  
theres a first**

**teruteru turning down the  
park**

************Teruteru**********  
i’d go if i could. ;)**

****Fuyuhiko**  
…**

************Gundham**********  
If you could cease your  
** **infernal conversation, that would**  
**be appreciated.**

****Fuyuhiko**  
just turn your phone to  
silent**

************Ryota 1**********  
I’ll be busy**

****Fuyuhiko**  
big surprise**

**************Ryota 2************  
Will there be food?**

****Fuyuhiko**  
its the park of course therell  
be food**

****************Ryota 2**************  
I can go**

****Fuyuhiko**  
another big surprise**

**mikan are you in or out**

**I don’t know…**

****Fuyuhiko**  
that is not an answer**

**hiyoko help me out**

********Hiyoko******  
mikan if you don’t decide in  
** **one minute i will rearrange your**  
**face free of charge**

**I’ll go! I’ll go!**

****Fuyuhiko**  
k**

**if you rat us out i will  
murder you**

**I won’t! I promise! I’m sorry!**

****Fuyuhiko**  
unless hiyoko does first**

**ok calm the fuck down**

**souda youve been quiet  
are you goin**

****************Kazuichi**************  
i gotta see**

****Fuyuhiko**  
so basically wait for  
sonia to say if shes going**

******************Kazuichi****************  
shut up!**

******Ibuki****  
i cant make it, i got  
band on saturday**

****Fuyuhiko  
** k**

**alright im out for the  
night**

******************Nagito  
**************** I’m afraid I can’t go.  
Sorry!**

* * *

There was a knock at the door. Mikan groaned, pulling her blanket off and slowly rolling out of bed onto her feet. She shuffled over to the door and pulled it open a crack, wincing at the thin beam of light that struck her eye. “Hey, Chiaki…”

“I got those sleeping pills for you.”

“Thanks.”

She opened the door a little more, squinting as the light intensified, and held out her hand. Chiaki put two purple pills in her palm.

“Only two?”

“That’s the dosage.”

“Oh…”

“…Mikan, two will be all you need.”

“I know…”

“…I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Okay.”

“G’night.”

“Good night.”

Mikan shut the door and popped the pills in her mouth, not bothering to find a glass of water to swallow them with. She could dry-swallow them fine. It was a bit uncomfortable, sure, but she didn’t care right now. She just wanted to stop feeling so queasy and go to _sleep._

She crawled back into bed, pulling the covers tightly over herself, and buried her head in her pillow. Why did today have to be so stressful? Why did _school_ have to be so stressful? Hell, why was _life_ so damn stressful? Even the group text was making her anxious!

Maybe she should consider going to Seiko about some anxiety medication in the morning…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Nagito cheers us the fuck up.
> 
> I'm sorry this one was such a downer too, it's 1:49 AM and I'm not doing so hot myself. Mikan's also got a lot going on in her life
> 
> Also if you wanna read some of my own work, I've posted that too.


	8. The Contentment, Predictability, and Appearance of Nagito Komaeda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a dream Monday morning that you guys were berating me in the comments because I made a research error. I was more annoyed by the massive amount of emails I was getting than anything else, which I think accurately depicts what my response would be IRL. I thought you'd like to know.

_Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp! Vrp-vrp!_

_“Hey, Komaeda, it’s Chiaki. Are you asleep? …I guess you are. Um, when you wake up, call me back, ‘cause—”_

Nagito’s eyes shot open. He flipped over in his bed, hand scrambling underneath his pillows for his phone, and yanked it free of its charger. “Hey! Hey, I’m here.”

_“Oh. Hey.”_

“So, what’s up?”

_“Um, I need to ask you a favour.”_

“Sure, what’s the favour?”

_“So… I know you’re not coming to the park on Saturday.”_

“Yeah, I’m planning on being at school.”

_“Are you going to be busy afterwards?”_

“…No. I don’t have any plans besides homework.”

_“Okay. Good. ‘Cause I’m going to be at the park until really late… probably. And I need you to, um…”_

“…You need me to…?”

_“I forgot that I’m supposed to be at Hope’s Peak Elementary after school. To supervise the kids while they wait to get picked up.”_

“Oh.”

_“Yeah. So… do you think you could go for me?”_

“Uh… yeah? I think so.”

_“Okay. Thanks. It’s pretty easy. Most of the kids don’t really bother you, and there’s other supervisors and such.”_

“Okay. Anyone to watch out for?”

_“…Yeah. There’s a few. The biggest ones are Masaru Daimon and his group of friends. There’s only three of them, counting him.”_

“Alright. That sounds manageable.”

_“Thank you. It starts at 4.”_

“4, got it.”

_“Alright, I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”_

“Sounds good. Try to get some sleep.”

_“Easier… done than said. G’night.”_

“Goodnight.”

Nagito plugged his phone back in, smiling as the screen lit up with the happy faces of his friends. Maybe it was sentimental of him, but every time he looked at that picture, with Sonia and Gundham mixing cake batter in her kitchen while Chiaki and Hajime sorted colourful cupcake wrappers in the cupcake pan, he felt a warm fuzzy feeling blossom in his chest. These guys… they were more than hope to him. They were his _friends._

“I’m so lucky…” he sighed happily, turning off the screen and pulling the blankets tigher around his frame, and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

**4 People**

  **Tuesday 5 April, 08:24 AM**

 

 **Sonia Nevermind  
** **I have an idea! We should**  
**start a baking club!**

 ** **Gundham Tanaka**  
** **A cult centered around the**  
**arcana of baking? This sounds**  
**interesting.**

**I’d love to start a baking club!**

******Chiaki Nanami****  
that sounds fun.**

**its four ultimates  
** **minimum to start a vlub,**  
**right?**

**Sonia Nevermind  
Yes, I believe so.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
** **Or three and four Reserve**  
**Course students.**

** Actually, it’s five Ultimates.  **

**Or three and four Reserves.**

******Chiaki Nanami****  
** **that’s right. two reserves**  
**for every ultimate.**

**what an interesting  
coincidence.**

**probably not.**

********Hajime Hinata******  
** **So basically everybody**  
**in this group text would be**  
**exactly enough Ultimates if we**  
**wanted to do just us?**

******Chiaki Nanami****  
i think so.**

******Gundham Tanaka****  
** **If this cult should form,**  
**conversion of mortals may be**  
**to our benefit.**

 **It shall allow us to spread  
** **our dark magic to the four**  
**corners of the Earth!**

**So you want to recruit?**

**Should we let Reserves in?**

******Chiaki Nanami****  
obviously yes!**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
I’d like that.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
That would be lovely!**

******Gundham Tanaka****  
** **Fool, do you not**  
**understand the power we**  
**would obtain? Conversion**  
**is of the utmost importance!**

**Whoa, okay, okay! Mized club  
it is!**

***Mixed**

**Sonia Nevermind  
** **We need a supervisor and**  
**a meeting place.**

 ** ** **Chiaki Nanami****  
** **ms. yukizome’s out. she’s**  
**already doing a few clubs.**

 **Hajime Hinata  
Can we ask Reserve**  
**teachers to supervise?**

 **Sonia Nevermind  
** **I do not know. I shall ask**  
**Ms. Yukizome in homeroom.**

 **Hajime Hinata  
Okay, ‘cause if we can,**  
**I can ask around the Reserve**  
**campus.**

**I guess I’ll also be the one  
recruiting Reserve students.**

******Chiaki Nanami****  
oh yeah, that’s right.**

**No ultimates allowed on  
the reserve campus.**

**It makes sense. There’s no real  
reason for us to go there.**

******Chiaki Nanami****  
um, no, that’s wrong?**

**hajime’s there?**

**Of course. But besides that.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
** **But there is no reason**  
**for us to *not* go there, either.**

 **I personally do not see  
the point, but I do not much**  
**care to cross between campuses**  
**anyway.**

**********Hajime Hinata  
******** It might actually be better.**

**Having them apart, I mean.**

**The Reserves are still  
** **pretty unhappy with your side of**  
**the school.**

***our side**

**Last year lingers, huh?**

**I’m not surprised.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
** **That’s true. Although, I did**  
**not think that was the reasoning**  
**behind it.**

 ** ** **Chiaki Nanami****  
** **the steering committee is**  
**trying to keep the system like it**  
**was last year.**

 **which is dumb for a lot of  
** **reasons but i’m not gonna go**  
**there.**

**anyway, baking club?**

**Sonia Nevermind  
** **Yes, you’re right! So, Hajime,**  
**you’re seeing about supervision?**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
Yeah.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
Excellent!**

**Now we just need a time and  
place to meet!**

**How often should we meet, too?**

**I think every other day.**

********Chiaki Nanami******  
** **how about three times a**  
**week? that gives us a little more**  
**time to do our own thing.**

**********Hajime Hinata  
******** ^Agreed.**

**Plus that means we don’t  
shuffle days of the week.**

**What days work for people?**

**My best days are non-Research  
days.**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
** **Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday?**  
**Works for me.**

 ** ** ** **Chiaki Nanami******  
** **that means we can’t ditch**  
**saturdays again after this**

 **Sonia Nevermind  
** **I do not have a problem with**  
**these days.**

 ** ** ** **Gundham Tanaka******  
** **It has occured to me that**  
**there is another in the ranks**  
**above us who will wish to join us**  
**in our dark rituals.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
Really? Who?**

********Gundham Tanaka******  
** **The she-witch who attempted**  
**to entice my Four Dark Devas**  
**yesterday afternoon.**

 **Sonia Nevermind  
** **Oh yes! I would love for**  
**Ruruka to join us!**

** She makes the best chocolates.  **

**Gods above.**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
Agreed. They’re addictive.**

**I hope she joins us.**

** Chiaki Nanami **  
**chocolate is always welcome,**  
**especially in my tummy.**

 **Sonia Nevermind  
So, Tuesday, Thursday, and**  
**Saturdays. Where shall we meet?**

 ** Chiaki Nanami **  
**we should ask teruteru if the**  
**kitchen is open those days**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
^^^**

**Either that or we bring our own  
supplies.**

**Oh, what time of day do we meet?**

**Sonia Nevermind  
Free Time?**

**Hajime Hinata  
Makes sense.**

********Chiaki Nanami******  
yeah.**

**unless anybody is busy then?**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
Ha. That’s funny.**

**I have very little to do in my Free  
Time.**

**Sonia Nevermind  
** **In that case, once Hajime has**  
**found a supervisor, I’ll ask the**  
**headmaster for permission to**  
**form the club, and we will meet**  
**during Free Time on Tuesdays,**  
**Thursdays, and Saturdays!**

**I’m very excited for this!**

**It’ll be great!**

**The Hope’s Peak Ultimate Baking  
Club!**

**********Hajime Hinata********  
** **I’ll start asking around on**  
**Wednesday for Reserves who are**  
**interested.**

 **Sonia Nevermind  
Has anyone else started a**  
**new club this year?**

 **Chiaki Nanami  
i’m pretty sure this will be**  
**the first.**

 **Sonia Nevermind  
We’ll be the first integrated**  
**club!**

****Chiaki Nanami**  
achievement unlocked!**

Nagito chuckled to himself, pocketing his phone as he entered homeroom. “Good morning, Ms. Yukizome!”

“Morning, Nagito!” she replied, waving cheerily.

Mahiru and Hiyoko were already seated, as were Chiaki, Sonia, and Gundham. “Hajime hasn’t arrived yet?” he said, raising one eyebrow.

“Not yet,” Chiaki said, not looking up from her computer. She seemed to be playing Animal Crossing. “He’ll be here in a few.”

“Of course,” he smiled, sitting down at his desk. “Hajime is always one for punctuality!”

“I’m very much looking forward to sharing class with him!” Sonia enthused. “It’ll be wonderful to finally have him in our official ranks!”

“I agree!” he laughed. “It’s been too long since we met him for us not to have had classes together!”

“Although, I must wonder what purpose there is behind his ascension to our echelon,” Gundham said. “The powers that be could not have done this without ulterior motive.”

“Let’s not focus on that right now, Gundham!” Sonia said. “For now let’s just bask in the joy we feel that he is finally properly joining us!”

“Your hope will shine brighter than ever!” Nagito agreed.

“Nagito,” Chiaki said warningly, “you’re about to start off again.”

“Ah! My apologies!” he said. “I’m also very excited.”

And, speak of the devil, Hajime was the next person to walk through the door, closely followed by Akane and Nekomaru. “Hey, guys!” he grinned. “I’m here!”

“Hey!” the class cheered. 

“Welcome back!” Chiaki said.

“It’s so wonderful to have you here!” Sonia said.

“I’m so glad you’re finally here!” Nagito said.

“Welcome to class, Hajime!” Ms. Yukizome said.

“Thanks, guys!” Hajime smiled sitting down between Chiaki and Nagito. “It’s really great to be here.”

“It’ll be interesting, to say the least,” Chiaki said. “But I think you already know that.”

“Oh yeah,” he chuckled. “I can kinda guess.”

“It’ll be amazing!” Nekomaru said. “Just wait and see, Hajime, it’ll be the shit!”

“I know it will!” Hajime said.

“We’re gonna have tons’a fun, man!” Akane said. “We’ll have Teruteru make a ton of barbecue foods, have a cookout by the tennis courts—”

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, Akane!” Ms. Yukizome said, holding up a finger. “You still have to participate in classes, you know!”

“I know, I know!” Akane said breezily. “It’ll still be great!”

Mahiru and Hiyoko came in through the door, and Hiyoko’s mouth curled into a teasing sneer when she saw Hajime. “Well, look who it is!”

“Hey there, Hiyoko,” Hajime smirked. “Long time, no see.”

“Shut up!” she shot back, but she was still smiling.

“It’s good to finally have you up here!” Mahiru chimed in. “Now at least we can see you during school!”

The rest of the class trickled in, all greeting Hajime with varied levels of enthusiasm—ranging from Mikan’s usual profuse apologising, this time from somehow tripping on air and crashing across his desk in another compromising position, to Fuyuhiko’s gruff “Hey, dude, good to see you showed up,”—and sat down at their desks.

“And there’s all 17!” Ms. Yukizome said as Ryota trudged in, rubbing his eyes vigorously. “How are we all feeling today? Better than yesterday?”

The class responded with a fairly even mix of affirmation and denial.

“Sleep makes everything better…” Chiaki sighed.

“I talked with my parents last night,” Mahiru said. “They’re doing okay and that made me feel better.”

“I couldn’t get to sleep until 2 in the morning!” Kazuichi complained. “There was this one super cool thing I found in the dumpster by my dorm and I spent a bunch of time taking it apart and putting it back together…”

“Yesterday went alright for me, so today’s not better or worse so far,” Nagito said airily.

“If I have to deal with one more night of people running up and down the hall, I’m seriously gonna kick someone’s ass,” Hiyoko growled.

“Sorry…” Ibuki said with an apologetic grin.

“Well, that sounds—interesting,” Ms. Yukizome said. “I’m glad to hear that at least _some_ of us are feeling better. Especially since _today_ is Hajime Hinata’s first day in the Ultimate Course!”

The class cheered, and Hajime blushed. “Guys, come on…”

“I expect all of you to make sure that he’s welcomed, and that if he has any trouble you’ll be there to help him!” she continued. “I don’t have to ask if I can count on you to do that, do I?”

“C’mon!” Kazuichi laughed. “We’re soul friends! Right, Hajime?”

Hajime looked very uncomfortable as he nodded.

“He’s in good hands,” Nagito said.

“Oh! Ms. Yukizome!” Sonia exclaimed, raising her hand. “May I ask you a question?”

“What is it, Sonia?” Ms. Yukizome asked.

“Well, I was wondering, is it allowed for Reserve Course teachers to supervise club meetings, now that they are open to Reserve Course students?” Sonia asked.

“Um… I’m pretty sure that it’s allowed,” Ms. Yukizome said, putting a finger to her chin. “I’ll ask the headmaster about it.”

“What, you startin’ a club?” Akane asked.

“No, she’s just asking for shits and giggles,” Hiyoko said, rolling her eyes.

“I was wondering because a few of us want to start a baking club,” Sonia said. “I know many of the Ultimate teachers are rather busy supervising other clubs, so I wanted to know if we could request a Reserve Course teacher’s supervision instead.”

“Wait, _baking club?!”_ Akane exclaimed. “Hold up, I wanna join!”

“Baking clubs _make_ food, you idiot, not _drool_ at it!” Hiyoko said.

“So what?!” Akane said. “I can make food just as easily as the rest of ya!”

“Your track record in the kitchen at our parties says otherwise,” Peko remarked.

“Shuddup!”

“Anyone who wishes to join is welcome to!” Sonia laughed, a little nervously. “There’s no need to fight about it!”

“Okay, guys, guys, seriously,” Ms. Yukizome said. “Save your energy.”

“Implies that some of us _have_ energy,” Mahiru sighed.

“Well, you have a full day ahead of you, energy or no,” Ms. Yukizome reminded her, “so you’ll have to find some along the way at some point!”

Mahiru buried her head in her desk and let out a tired groan.

Ms. Yukizome’s smile tightened a little more. “Alright! Anything else on anybody’s mind today?”

“Yeah, when are they pulling Research from the schedule?” Fuyuhiko called out.

Nagito took this opportunity to tune out as his classmates reacted rather passionately to the jibe.

* * *

“That was interesting,” Hajime said, pulling out his schedule from his backpack as they spilled out into the hallway.

“That’s a good way of putting it,” Chiaki agreed. “But that’s pretty much normal for us.”

“You guys are different people in class,” he said, shaking his head.

“Just wait until we get into an actual class,” Mahiru said. “What’s your schedule, can I see?” Before he could answer, she yanked the paper from his hands. “Okay, today’s Tuesday… Mathematics A. Oh boy.”

“What do you mean, _oh boy?”_ Hajime asked suspiciously.

“You’re with Nagito, me, Hiyoko, Ryota, and Chiaki,” she said. “It’s gonna be a nightmare.”

“Why would it be a nightmare?”

Nagito saw the look in Mahiru’s eyes, and swiftly averted his gaze. Oh, look, cherry blossoms!

“Because the teacher is Sensei Shingetsu,” Mahiru said ominously.

Nagito was still looking away, but the silence was palpable.

“S-Sensei Shingetsu?” Hajime repeated. “Do you mean _—_?”

“Oh, it’s not a good thing,” she said. “She’s Dr. Shingetsu’s _wife.”_

“Wait—is she…?”

“From what I’ve heard, she’s just about the meanest teacher in Hope’s Peak Academy,” she hissed. “Her husband is teaching in the elementary school, but I haven’t heard anything about what he’s like yet, only that _she’s_ pretty much a demon in human form.”

“That can’t be good…”

Look at all those cherry blossoms! Such vivid shades of pink!

“Ryota’s gonna crack, I’m calling it now,” she said.

“This doesn’t sound good at all,” Chiaki said.

Bob Ross would love this image. Happy little trees. He would probably add a happy little mountain in there somewhere too.

“What room are we in?”

“We make a right here and then it’s at the end of the hall.”

Maybe he would go to the arts building after this and paint a picture with Bob.

“So we’re learning how to use computers from Sensei Shingetsu, and that’s a bad thing?” Hajime summed up.

“Pretty much,” Mahiru said. “It’s not gonna be pretty, that’s for sure.”

_Hi, welcome back. Certainly glad to see you today, it’s a fantastic day here, and I hope it is wherever you’re at._

“Hey, Mahiru!” That was Hiyoko. “Can you believe this?”

_So I tell you what: let’s start out today and have ‘em run all the colours across the screen that you need to paint along with us._

“Nope. But it’s happening.”

“This is gonna _suck.”_

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, Nagito, you in there?”

He turned his head back. It was Chiaki. “I’m in here!”

“We’re making a right here,” she said, pointing down the hall.

“…—Oh!” He blinked. “Oh, I didn’t realise we were already here.”

“Spacing out is Chiaki’s job, marshmallow man,” Hiyoko said. “Come on, we don’t want to be late and piss the Sensei off.”

_While they’re doing that, lemme show you what I’ve got done up here. I have my standard ol’ pre-stretched canvas up here, and I’ve covered it with just a thin even coat of liquid white…_

“You’ve already given her a nickname?”

“It’s not a nickname if that’s what she calls herself!”

“Oh shit, we’re here already?”

“Brace yourselves, folks.”

“Hey, Nagito!”

Someone yanked his arm. Hajime this time. “Dude, you’re acting weirder than usual.”

“Sorry!” he laughed. “I spaced out again.”

“Seriously, Hope Freak, you need to get your shit together!” Hiyoko said. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

* * *

…

…

He was really glad that there were other classes after this one.

* * *

When Nagito arrived in the Arts building, he was pleasantly surprised to find that someone else was already there. “Ah! Good morning, Kasumi!”

The Ultimate Illustrator was sitting at the big table in the center of the room, hunched over a tablet. She looked up at him briefly. “Oh, hi there, Komaeda.”

“You can just call me Nagito,” he said, walking over to the canvases. “What’re you working on?”

“The newsletter,” she said.

“That sounds interesting!” he said, taking down a canvas. “What’s the highlight this week?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

“What are they having you illustrate?”

“Sports event.”

“Which one?”

“Baseball.”

“Maybe it has something to do with, ah, Leon Kuwata. Ultimate Baseball Player?” He set up his easel in an empty corner of the room and put down his canvas.

“Mm.”

He pulled out his computer and placed it on a nearby chair. “Do you mind if I put on a show? I’ll keep it quiet.”

“What’s the show?”

“The Joy of Painting.”

“Is it dubbed?”

“No, it’s subtitled.”

“Go ahead.”

He finished setting up his space, prepped his palette, and pressed the play button.

He really liked painting. He wasn’t very good at it, but good enough for his own standards. It was especially nicer when he had Bob Ross playing. He was tempted to say that he might have been the Ultimate Painter in his time—he seemed to radiate hope in a way only Ultimates did. He could feel it warming him through the screen of his computer. The combination of the translated words onscreen and his un-dubbed, calming voice sent him into a beautiful space in his mind. Even when he was too busy looking at his own painting to see what Bob was saying, he could almost _feel_ the meaning through the English. He had listened to enough episodes to understand some of the phrases repeated without needing the subtitles, but the original conjugations and sentence structure were beyond him. That didn’t bother him. It was enough to know what he meant when he said _“happy little trees”_ or _“beat the devil out of it”._ The rest was a dulcet tune to absorb while he focused on painting. Nice. Calming.

He decided he wanted to paint something like what he saw out the window on the way to class earlier. Those cherry blossoms were so bright, he could almost see them still if he closed his eyes. He knew he couldn’t replicate the scene, but he could capture the feel of it.

A few minutes in, Kasumi suddenly said, “Do you know how to speak English?”

He blinked, snapping out of the trance he had been slipping into. “Sorry?”

“Do you know how to speak English?”

“No,” he laughed. “I just prefer subtitles to Japanese dubs.”

“Would you ever want to learn how?”

He frowned. “…I never thought about it, to be honest. I haven’t had a reason yet.”

“You don’t need a reason. You can just learn it.”

He had to think about that for a long moment. Long enough to finish the shading on the mountain in the back and start on the first layer of cherry trees. “I know Hope’s Peak has an English elective… but that’s never really captured my interest before. I’ve always kept myself focused inward rather than out.”

“What does English have to do with that?”

“Oh… I just mean I don’t see myself doing anything that’ll require it.”

“Yet you listen to that without the dub.”

“I prefer it this way. He has a voice that can’t be replicated in Japanese.”

“Wouldn’t you want to know what he’s saying without needing the subtitles?”

“I’m already learning some of his catchphrases. I don’t think I’d need to take classes to learn it all.”

“…”

He frowned again as he mixed the highlight colour of the blossoms. She obviously had something further to say. What was she trying to get at?

“…It adds something to it when you can understand everything he says.”

He glanced over at her. She was still staring at her tablet. “Do you know what he’s saying?” he asked.

“Yes.” She put down her stylus and sat up, stretching her back. “It’s calming.”

“What’s he talking about right now?”

“Right now he’s talking about a squirrel he’s brought to the studio.”

He looked over at the screen. Indeed, Bob had a squirrel in his hand. Nagito couldn’t understand what he was saying, but presumably he was talking about the squirrel in some capacity. “Cute little guy.”

“Mm.”

She stood up and walked over to him. “That looks like outside right now,” she said, gesturing to his painting.

“Yeah. I was inspired on the way to class today.”

“I like the mountain you added.”

“Thanks.”

She moved towards the door. “I’m off.”

“Okay. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

The door clicked shut behind her. He tilted his head, staring at the painting for a few moments before he resumed. The seed of an idea was planted—maybe he might want to consider English in the future. He wasn’t very sure, though. He could enjoy his painting just as easily without knowing a word of it. Besides, he’d made it this far with one language. Someone as insignificant as him couldn’t have use for two or three…

“Add a few _happy little trees,”_ he muttered to himself, trying out the words in his mouth. They felt strange. They didn’t quite sound like how Bob said them, but he was close.

Maybe he’d give it a shot.

* * *

** 3887645419 **

  **Tuesday 5 April, 12:14 PM**

 

**Is this Nagito Komaeda?**

**It is! May I ask who this is?**

**This is Kyouko Kirigiri.**

**The Ultimate Detective? Wow!**

**What can I do for you?**

**If you happen to find a  
** **notebook with my name on the**  
**inside cover, please return it**  
**to the fountain, facing the main**  
**building.**

**What does it look like?**

**Lilac, college-ruled 8.5”x11”,  
300 sheets.**

**I’ll keep an eye out for it!**

“The plot thickens,” he muttered to himself. “Lilac, 300 sheets, has her name on the inside cover…”

** Everyone!  **

**Hey, if anyone sees a lilac notebook**  
**around campus, can you bring it to**  
**the fountain at lunch?**

 ** Mahiru Koizumi **  
**You don’t have a lilac**  
**notebook…**

** I’m doing a favour for one of the  
kōhai.  **

** Mahiru Koizumi  
Okay…  **

** Hiyoko Saionji **  
**for fucks sake can you**  
**STOP TEXTING US IN CLASS**

 ** Hiyoko Saionji **  
**NOT EVERYONE HAS**  
**FREE TIME RIGHT NOW**

** Sorry!  **

** Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu **  
**just put your phone on**  
**silent it isnt rocket science**

** Hiyoko Saionji  
shut the fuck up!  **

** Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu **  
**fucking hell nobody**  
**seems to know what the**  
**silent option is on their**  
**phone**

** Chiaki Nanami  
i do.  **

** Hajime Hinata  
I’ll ask around, Nagito.  **

** Shouldn’t you be using  
your luck for this one?  **

**I’m not supposed to directly**  
**use it this week when I can**  
**help it.**

** Research.  **

** Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu  
motherfucker  **

** theyre really messing  
with us  **

** Chiaki Nanami **  
**how can you make it**  
**indirect? that doesn’t make**  
**sense.**

 **I don’t know. I can’t do my**  
**usual random walks,**  
**for one.**

** The rest is a mystery to me.  **

** Mahiru Koizumi  
Weird af.  **

** Really getting sick of  
HPA’s bullshit.  **

** Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu  
join the club  **

**this is why i said we**  
**should go to the park on**  
**saturday**

** cause this place is  
already driving us nuts  **

** Mikan Tsumiki **  
**Whom does the**  
**notebook belong to?**

** Kyouko Kirigiri.  **

** She says her name is in  
the inside cover.  **

** Hiyoko Saionji **  
**who the fuck uses**  
**whom, pigshit?**

** Mikan Tsumiki  
I’m sorry!  **

** Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu **  
**ffs take it outside**  
**guys**

** sick of this catfight  **

Nagito let out a tired sigh. “No matter how things change, those two will always be the same…” He looked at his completed painting. “That looks nice. Maybe I should bring this to my room when school is over.” He set it to the side in a far corner of the room. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said, pointing at it with mock sternness. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters that are multiples of four are my weakness, I've figured out. So, chapters 9-11 can be expected fairly soon, Chapter 12 will be up some time in early May, because I am actual trash.
> 
> Next time: The Adventures of Nagito Komaeda continue!


	9. Ultimate Good Luck, and the Tardy Arrival of Its Evil Twin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "...Chapter 12 will be up some time in early May, because I am actual trash."  
>  ~~12~~ **_* 9_**

**Ibuki Mioda**

**Tuesday 5 April, 1:01 PM**

**yo bagel where u at**

**I’m at the fountain. Why?**

**why r u at the fountain?**

**Have you checked the group text?**

**oh ibuki sees**

**ya srry no notebook**

**That’s okay, don’t worry.**

**I’m pretty sure I’ll end up finding  
it.**

**ok cool**

**anyway whats ur nxt class?**

**Art.**

**fuck**

**when u get a chance come 2  
the theatr**

**ibuki needs 2 use ur ult BS**

**What’s the problem?**

**ibuki knows its a stretch but**

**i rlly fckin need it**

**theres a chord ibuki found  
ystrday**

**but now i cant f u c k i n  
r e m e m b e ri t**

**and ibuki thinks if u  
** **try maybe u cn find it**  
**agn**

**its super imprtnt its wht makes  
th song work**

**Is it a hard chord?**

**i mean its not easy**

**its not th worlds hrdest chord but  
not beginers stuf eithr**

**Okay. I think I can do it.**

**The harder it would be to stumble  
on it, the more likely I can find it.**

**oh right ye**

**its not a chord ud normlly  
play**

**if ibuki could fuckin rmember  
** **th damn thing jst by that thatd**  
**be gr8**

**but noooo ibuki had to get  
high last nite n frget it fckin idiot**

**Just so you know, if I can’t get it  
first try, it probably won’t happen.**

**k good 2 kno**

**so ye just come ovr asap**

**Will do!**

“Hey, Nagito!” someone called out.

He turned his head, and saw Mahiru coming over. She held up a notebook in her hand. “I found your lilac notebook.”

“Thanks!” He stood up, taking it and setting it down on the fountain. “Where was it?”

“Out by the baseball diamond,” she said. “I think the Research guys would want to know that I literally stumbled upon it.”

“Really? That’s interesting!” he exclaimed. “Maybe there’s something to their ideas after all…”

“That would be a first,” she said, curling her lip. “I’ll see you in Science.”

“See you then!” he waved.

**Mahiru Koizumi 1:05 PM  
** **Everyone!**  
**Notebook found.**

**3887645419  
** ****

**Tuesday 5 April, 1:05 PM**

**Hey, I found your notebook!**

**Thank you. Please leave it at the  
fountain facing the main building.**

**Will do!**

**Ibuki Mioda  
** ****

**Tuesday 5 April, 1:06 PM**

**I’m heading over.**

**SWEET**

He chuckled. “I’m amazed I’m so useful around here…”

When he arrived at the theater, he heard the familiar sound of Ibuki’s music thundering from the stage, and he felt his body tense involuntarily in response. No matter how many times he listened to her play, it was the most unnerving feeling—like the strings of her guitar were tugging at the tendons binding his muscles to his bones and trying to make him dance. He fought the instinct to leave the room, and instead pushed forward.

Ibuki was standing smack in the middle of the stage, fingers flying up and down the neck of her guitar. The roaring sound coming from the speakers resonated uncomfortably in his gut, but still he approached, against his subconscious urges. The music was far too loud for her to be able to hear him if he called out, so he put himself in front of her and started waving, hoping to catch her eye. After a few moments, she looked up, and the music faded away as she waved back. “Hey! Thanks for comin’ here!”

“Not a problem!” he said. “I’m here to help!”

“Great!” She took off the guitar and shoved it into his hands. “Here you go!”

Nagito gripped the guitar uncertainly, and ran his hands over the strings. They felt foreign to his fingers. Experimentally, he plucked one, and the sound reverberated throughout the room. Then he pressed down on it over the neck, and plucked again. A different note rang out. The grip felt unnatural to him. He smiled weakly. “This is very new to me…”

“Do you think you can do it?” Ibuki asked, cocking her head to the side.

“…Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Finding it will take… a lot of luck.”

He closed his eyes. His left hand loosened around the neck, and started gliding up and down, searching randomly for places to rest his fingers. His pinky landed first, on the second-bottom string. Then his ring finger landed right next to his pinky and a string above it, awkwardly jamming them into the same division. Then, most oddly, his middle finger stretched out past both of them and pressed down two strings above his ring finger. His index finger reached one division left of them all and pressed on that middle string while his thumb did nothing. His brow furrowed, and he visualised the position his hand was in. Did this feel right? Was his luck going to come through? It was hard to tell. It might be that he was about to make a fool of himself and play something entirely wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d made such a huge error. He wasn’t trash for nothing, after all. He flexed his fingers, bit his tongue, and gingerly strummed the guitar.

The chord practically screamed out of the speakers, but as it hit his ears, his doubt vanished, and he knew he’d found it. At the same time, Ibuki let out a screech of frustration. “It’s a minor 9! How could I forget it was a minor 9?! _”_

He opened his eyes and looked down at his left hand. “That’s an actual chord?”

“Yeah, and I should’ve _known_ it was one!” she said, smacking her head repeatedly. “Gaaaah! What’s the root note?!” She stomped over and inspected his left hand’s position. “C-sharp minor 9! I knew it had to be something to do with the fourth fret, I _knew it!_ Here, hand it over!” Taken aback by her ferocity, he took off the guitar and handed it over without a word. She practically slammed her hand against the strings, and that same chord played twice as loudly, this time with the familiar tugging sensation. “Aaaaaaaaa!” She took a deep breath in. “Thanks, Nagito-chan! You might wanna back up a bit!”

He wasted no time in rapidly backpedaling from the stage as Ibuki began _really_ playing.

* * *

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Nagito,” Chiaki commented as they gathered outside the Art building.

“Ah… I was invited to help Ibuki out with a song,” he said. “My ears are still ringing!”

“That would explain a lot,” Sonia laughed. “You look rather shell-shocked!”

“Yes, that’s the term,” he said weakly. “Shell-shocked…”

He looked around, trying to get his bearings for the twelfth time in as many minutes. He was standing outside the Art building with Chiaki and Sonia… because class was about to start. Gundham was there, talking with the Ryotas, and Mahiru and Hiyoko were approaching from the courtyard. What time was it?

“It’s 1:30, Nagito.”

Nagito blinked. “Did I say that out loud?”

“Yeah,” Chiaki nodded.

“Oh. Sorry…”

The doors opened, and Kasumi Morioka stuck her head out. “Good afternoon, everybody. Come inside, please.”

The class followed her inside. Several easels and blank canvases were set up in a circle throughout the room, and in the center sat a trolley fit to burst with painting supplies. Nagito stole a quick glance towards his painting as they filed in, smiling when the sight of the cherry blossoms greeted him. What would they be doing today?

“Okay, I’ll level with you all right now, today is not gonna be a theory day, because I got about three hours of sleep last night and I did not have the patience nor the energy to write up a lesson plan this morning,” Kasumi said. “Today’s gonna be a peer-review day.”

About half the class groaned at those words. “Can we at least pick who’s reviewing our paintings this time?” Hiyoko asked with a scowl.

“Yes. Fine. That’s fine,” Kasumi said. “Partner up.”

In about three seconds, it was all but decided who would be with who. Mahiru and Hiyoko, Sonia and Gundham, and the Ryotas all seemed to join up as if supermagnets were pulling them together. That left Nagito with Chiaki, for about the thousandth time. He didn’t mind, of course. Chiaki was one of three people who could deal with him for more than ten minutes at a time.

“Your prompt today is… worth,” Kasumi announced. “And your challenge is to paint in a style you haven’t done in a while. If you do realistic, try something abstract, and vice versa. You have the whole class to finish. Get started.”

“What colour palette are you going to use today?” Nagito asked Chiaki as they grabbed their supplies.

“I think something with red,” she said, squeezing out a large blob of alizarin crimson onto her palette. “I use a lot of greens and blues usually. What about you?”

“I think I’ll try something with yellow,” he decided. “I gravitate towards colder colours more often than not.”

“I want to take the challenge, but I’m not sure I have the skill points to do a good non-abstract painting,” she said.

“I’ll take it if you will,” he offered. “I’m no good at abstracts.”

She looked up at him with a grateful smile. “That sounds good. We’ll both be trying something we’re not good at.”

“And this way neither of us will feel as bad when we’re reviewed,” he added, “because one of us won’t have done better than the other!”

“Right,” she nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.” She smiled again. “Good luck, Nagito. Not that that’s a problem for you.”

“Good luck to you too,” he laughed, and they returned to their easels.

Nagito was telling the truth, he was no good at abstract paintings. He was never good with open-ended prompts in general. He preferred his world to be one made of structure, organised and clear-cut. It’s why he liked realism so much: reality had constructs that were defined and set, not so much that they couldn’t change, but enough that he could understand it. Math was a bit too rigid, he felt—only one right answer for every question. You could phrase the process in different ways, but the essence didn’t change. Art didn’t have questions like that, and the answers could always be different. He could be asked to draw a mountain, and create scores of mountains that were all different.

Abstract was where that all fell apart, though. The prompt ‘worth’ could mean anything in abstraction. He could splatter his canvas with reckless abandon and get away with calling it ‘worth’ if he could come up with an explanation that even vaguely tied the two together. He understood how it worked to an extent, but no matter how his emotions responded to the word ‘worth’, his thoughts were too informed by real-world images to easily envision something entirely removed from that and still be fueled by the emotions.

Nevertheless. The prompt was ‘worth’, and he was taking the challenge. He would paint abstractly until he could find a way to be satisfied by what he created.

Starting was always the hardest part. He couldn’t decide where to put his brush first. He bit his tongue, trying to see something besides buildings and people and trees. The brush hovered mere inches above his palette, loaded with indian yellow, awaiting orders. _Where to begin? When you hear ‘worth’, what do you see?_

He honestly had no idea. He had absolutely no idea where to begin. All that came to his mind was objects, people, animals, all things that already _existed._ Abstract didn’t want him to do that, abstract wanted physical impossibility, or total erasure of physicality. Cubism. Colour dynamics. Alteration of form beyond anything conceivable in the real world. He stared harder and harder, but nothing appeared before him. Nothing was revealing itself to him. Nothing, nothing, nothing nothing nothing…

He was starting to consider forfeiting the challenge completely, but then, the lightning bolt of inspiration struck him, in the form of Chiaki muttering something under her breath:

_“Come on, turn the symbols into something that actually exists.”_

It really was like a lightning bolt. That was it! It was so _simple!_ All he had to do was reverse that process! Take something tangible, then alter it into something impossible! That made it abstract by definition! He bit down on his tongue harder, this time to stop himself from laughing out loud with joy. There it was! That was the key!

Knowing how to proceed now, he directed his attention back to the canvas. _So, when you hear ‘worth’, what object do you see?_ He tilted his head as he thought about it, and slowly, the air gave way to form a coat of arms. _Of course, the Hope’s Peak coat of arms. Okay. That’s a start. But that’s not easy to abstractify. What’s another thing you envision?_ He thought harder. What symbolised worth to him? Or maybe he needed to branch out. What said to him, “This is a thing that embodies your idea of what is _worthy?”_ _What do you believe is justified in being called a worthy creation?_ He frowned in concentration. It was just out of sight…

The coat of arms drifted to the left, and to its right, slowly, slowly… a small plush teddy bear took shape.

He could barely explain it in words. Something about it resonated with him. It felt… worthy. Worthy of its existence. Why? What did he see in a teddy bear that was worthy?

_Maybe if you try mixing the two?_

He brought the coat of arms over the bear—and that suddenly made sense too. _Of course,_ he realised. _It’s a symbol of hope._ It was something that you could hold onto when you needed a way to fight despair, back when you were little. Back before you had a way to internally ward it off or utilise it, before you’d learned how to survive in this world. Before you understood what it was founded on: hope and despair…

_There you go. Hope and despair. Blend the coat of arms with the bear, then symbolise the dichotomy. Voilà!_

He stared at the imaginary coat of arms. What could he use? The lightning bolt? The pen? He rotated the image this way and that for a few moments. The lightning bolt could be used as an eye, he thought. That could be part of the despair… and on the other side the bear could hold the pen, symbolising hope…

_Anything else?_

…

_Something a little more obvious, maybe? Abstract has to be understood somehow._

…It felt cliché, but he liked the idea of splitting the bear in half, and paint the despair side black. _It’ll do,_ he decided halfheartedly, and he finally, _finally_ started painting.

It didn’t take him very long to actually paint the picture. A nice background of yellow, the pen tip gleaming in the light in the bear’s outstretched arm, the lightning bolt bright crimson against the black fur. He ended up adding some sharp teeth on the despair side, in case it wasn’t quite obvious enough that the black side was symbolising that.

When it was all said and done, it took him about an hour to complete the painting. He stepped back and looked at his handiwork, something resembling pride warming him in his core. Not the greatest he’d ever done, but not necessarily bad. “That’ll do,” he said softly.

“You finished?” Chiaki whispered, glancing up at him.

“Mm-hmm. How about you?”

“I’m just about done too,” she said. “Gimme two minutes.”

He nodded, and started putting away his supplies.

By the time he was finished, everyone else had completed their paintings and were critiquing their partners’ works. He walked over to Chiaki’s easel, and a broad smile split his face when he saw what she’d painted. “I love it,” he declared.

“Really?” Her cheeks turned the slightest bit pink at his praise. “Thanks.”

“What made you decide to have the water in the fountain be red instead of the sun?”

“I thought it would pop.”

“It definitely pops. May I ask who’s silhouetted?”

“The one on the left is Hajime, and the one on the right is me.”

“I see. What are you doing?”

“We’re playing games.”

He laughed. “I like it. How does it tie into the prompt for you?”

She put a finger to her cheek. “Well… to me, the most important thing in life is to make connections and create something wonderful together. And… I feel like me and Hajime playing games together is the best thing that fits that.”

“That’s… really touching,” he said. “Genuinely.”

“Thanks, Nagito,” she smiled. “What did you paint?”

He led her over to his easel. “It’s not my best…”

A grin tugged at her lips, and she tried her hardest not to laugh. “Uh—that’s an… interesting bear.”

He laughed, embarrassed. “I told you, I don’t do abstract very well.”

“It’s definitely abstract,” she said, a giggle escaping her lips. “W-What’s the symbolism?”

“Well, uh… it’s what you would expect. The pen and the bolt are from the Hope’s Peak coat of arms. The pen is hope, the bolt is despair… then the bear is divided into black and white, despair and hope. It’s all sort of just a symbol of the dichotomy between the two. I didn’t want it to be monochromatic, which is why the yellow—”

Chiaki burst out laughing.

“Um—did I say something?” he asked, cheeks turning red.

“M-Monochromatic… it’s a mono—chromatic— _bear!”_ she laughed. “Get it? Y-You could call it _Monokuma!”_

In hindsight, perhaps he should’ve seen that one coming. Then again, he’d had to make up for that good luck with Ibuki somehow.

* * *

  **Mikan Tsumiki**

  **Tuesday 5 April, 4:34 PM**

**Hey, Nagito, are you busy tonight?**

**No, all I have is homework.**

**What’s up?**

**Some of us are going out for dinner  
around 6, would you like to come?**

**It’ll be at the Wendy’s near the  
National Art Center.**

**The First Kitchen? I’ve never been!**

**You should come, then!**

**Who else will be there?**

**Hajime, Sonia, and Akane.**

**So it’ll be five of us if you come.**

**That sounds like a good time.**

**I’ll be there!**

**Really?!**

**Of course!**

**Thank you so much, Nagito!**

**It’s the least I can do!**

He frowned even deeper as he reread the message, making sure he wasn’t overlooking an error. “6 PM, Wendy’s First Kitchen. 6 PM, Wendy’s First Kitchen.” The train jolted. “6 PM.” He glanced at the time. “5:40. Twenty minutes. Probably should show up around 5:50.” What station were they approaching? “E-24, Kokuritsukyogijo. One more stop after that. Okay. Plenty of time.”

Nagito hated the subway with a passion. While he was grateful for the fact that it was relatively quiet, it made him incredibly anxious to be so deep underground. Mikan had offered to let him come with her on her motorcycle, but the one thing he hated more than the subway was motorcycles. They were horribly loud, and horribly unstable. It made his skin crawl just imagining Mikan weaving through the crowded Tokyo traffic.

Why did _she,_ of all people, enjoy motorcycles? He had no idea how to connect _Mikan Tsumiki_ with _motorcycle enthusiast._

Well, he supposed he really wasn’t one to talk. Who would expect someone like him to be a fan of paintball?

The train reached Roppongi Station a few minutes later. He wasted no time in exiting the station and returning to the ground level, although he vaguely regretted it as the sounds of the city assaulted his ears. It really was just his luck that he couldn’t find his headphones before he left. He did his best to block it all out as he made his way to the Wendy’s, but Roppongi was really a busy, busy place. By the time he reached his destination, he felt uncomfortably tense, his hands fidgeting as they tried to burn off the anxiety. Nobody else had arrived. _Hopefully Mikan doesn’t choose to come roaring past here to find a parking space,_ he prayed.

He leaned against the wall and waited a little impatiently for the others to show. He predicted that Sonia would be first, and Akane would be last. Normally he’d say Akane would be extra-early to an event centered around food, but in this case he assumed the length of the trip would lessen its effect on her timeliness. It was a tossup for second and third—Hajime liked to be a few minutes early, but so did Mikan, and she was biking whereas he was riding the subway. Then again, Hajime had said he was leaving barely five minutes after himself, so in theory he would have caught the train immediately after his and would be here a similar amount of time later. What time was it? He checked his phone. 5:47. He would guess Sonia would be here at 5:50, closely followed by Hajime. Mikan’s arrival would be somewhere within one to two minutes of Hajime’s, and Akane… probably 5:55, 6:00 at the latest. He put away his phone and tried to distract himself from the clamour surrounding him as he waited.

Sonia, true to form, was the first arrival. “Hello, Nagito! How are you?”

“I’m doing well!” he grinned dishonestly. “How about you?”

“I’m also doing well!” she smiled. “I’ve heard of Wendy’s before, but I’ve never actually visited one. It should be interesting!”

“It’ll be an experience for both of us,” he said. “I’ve never actually been to one myself.”

“Really? That’s interesting!” she said. “Are Wendy’s uncommon in Japan?”

“There’s more now than there used to be,” he said, “but there’s only a handful. Probably because it’s primarily American, and Japan is also much smaller than America.”

“That would make sense,” she said. “I’ve also heard that in Japan they offer a different variety of dishes than their normal fare?”

“I wouldn’t know about that,” he said.

He heard a faint rumbling that stuck out amongst the clatter of the street, and leaned forward as he tried to locate it. “Do you hear that rumbling?”

Sonia frowned, turning her head to follow his gaze. “Yes, I do. Why?”

It was getting closer. “Ah… that must be Mikan,” he said. “I was wondering if she would get here before Hajime.” It was really starting to get loud now. He put his fingers in his ears.

Moments later, Mikan growled past, and as she disappeared around the corner, he gingerly removed his fingers. “Who can stand to ride those things?” he muttered.

“It is rather out-of-character for Mikan,” Sonia agreed. “I must admit it surprised me when I first found out as well.”

“Trains or cars, those are infinitely preferable to me,” he said. “Even planes.”

For a few moments, they stood in silence as they waited for someone else to arrive. It was going to come down to the wire for second place—Mikan was in range, but would she find a parking space before Hajime got out of the subway? How long until he exited? He checked his phone again. 5:51. Five minutes between trains? That meant judging by his own arrival time, Hajime would be here in one minute or less. Still no way to figure out if Mikan would be here before him.

“You’ve been staring at that corner for a while,” Sonia said.

“I’m trying to figure who’ll be next to show up,” he explained.

“Why is that?”

“…No real reason. Something to pass the time.”

She smiled at that. “Nagito, there’s better ways to pass the time than simply staring at a street corner and waiting for others to appear.”

Before he had a chance to turn his head and reply, he spotted—both of them! “Ah! There’s Hajime and Mikan!” How hadn’t he thought of that? It was obvious that if they were that close in their arrival times, they would arrive together instead of separately! Birds of a feather flock together, after all!

“Hey guys!” Hajime called out, waving brightly. He’d changed out of his school uniform in favour of his normal button-down and green tie, whereas Mikan was dressed in a leather jacket and blue jeans, and was busying herself with removing her protective padding. Did bikers wear leather for safety or was it just part of the culture to be decked out in something so distasteful?

“Hey there, Hajime!” he said out loud. “I trust you didn’t run into any trouble getting here?”

“Why would I?” he asked. “The only thing I can think of that would slow me down would be if the train was late, which it obviously wasn’t.”

“Fair point,” Nagito nodded. “How about you, Mikan? Any trouble?”

She shook her head vigorously. “N-No! It wasn’t too busy today, so it was pretty smooth getting here…”

“I see.” He gestured to her quickly-filling hands. “Do you need some help with those?”

“No, I can take care of them myself!” she squeaked. “I, I brought my backpack with me!”

“Well, in that case, I’ll leave you to it!” he laughed awkwardly.

“So wait, Nagito, can I ask you something?” Hajime asked, looking at something on his phone. “Did you actually paint this?”

He showed Nagito his phone, and an unflattering picture of “Monokuma” all but assaulted his eyes. “Did Chiaki send you that?”

“Who else?” Hajime laughed. “I like the name ‘Monokuma’, that’s cute.”

**Chiaki Nanami  
** ****

**Tuesday 5 April, 5:53 PM**

**Your death will be swift, because I am  
merciful.**

“What are you saying to her?”

**you couldn’t kill me if you tried**

“That I’m glad she thought my painting was worth sharing," Nagito lied. "It was really nice of her!”

**I’m sure I can arrange something.**

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

**A nice framing.**

“I’m being honest, Hajime, don’t worry.”

“You guys are not that sweet to each other. You know she shared it because she thought it was funny.”

“C-Can I see?” Mikan asked.

**what, you would kill someone just  
to frame me?**

“That’s… really… interesting, Nagito!” She tried to stifle her laughter.

**Okay, fine. I’ll kill myself and frame  
you.**

“I’m blaming my luck,” he said with a sardonic smirk. “If I hadn’t helped Ibuki out at lunch, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Blame luck all you want, Nagito, you knew what you were getting yourself into,” Hajime said. 

**good luck with that.**

**wait, nevermind, you have that  
already.**

Nagito pocketed his phone. “I suppose so! That said, it was Kasumi’s decision to have us paint in a style we aren’t used to.”

“That _was_ the challenge for today,” Sonia agreed. “My painting was not very impressive either.”

“Oh? What did you paint?”

“I ended up painting abstractly,” she said, “but thinking back on it it was just a colour wheel.”

“There’s no shame in a colour wheel!” he said. “It’s less embarrassing, for certain.”

“That depends on your definition of embarrassing,” she countered. “It was most definitely lackluster, at least by my standards!”

“That’s why I prefer science,” Hajime said. “At least with science you don’t have to do a bunch of soul-searching to find the answer to a problem.”

“I agree,” Mikan said. “That’s one of the best parts of medicine!”

“But on the other side, art doesn’t require nearly as much training or know-how,” Nagito said. “All you need is materials and a vision of what to paint!”

“You can defend art all you want, Nagito, you won’t convince me,” Hajime said. “Science is obviously better.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree,” Nagito smiled cheekily. “Of course, normally I would defer to you, since you have so much more talent than myself, but in this case I cannot abide it.”

“You should be an actor when you grow up, Nagito, you’ve got the dramatics for it,” Hajime joked.

“I’ve often considered it,” Nagito said haughtily. “Once rehearsals for the Halloween play start I’m sure you’ll find that I am a stupendous performer.”

“Do you think the play will be anything like last year’s?” Sonia wondered.

“Nah. Hideo’s a wildcard,” Hajime said. “Have you ever walked in on one of his rehearsals?”

“No, I can’t say I have.”

“Well, I have, and I’ll tell you, he comes up with some crazy scenarios. And he _loves_ Halloween stuff, so I can only assume this one is gonna be one of the best and _weirdest_ he’s ever done.”

“That’s a very glowing review,” Nagito said.

“Well, I mean, he’s the _Ultimate_ Playwright,” Hajime said. “It’s kind of hard not to give an Ultimate good reviews.”

“Some would beg to differ. Do you remember Ibuki’s concert last fall?”

Everybody winced at that, including Mikan, although she immediately followed it up with, “Ibuki’s a good musician! She just plays a different genre than most people enjoy!”

“I’m sure the play will be enjoyable regardless,” Sonia said. “And it’ll be exciting to perform with everyone else!”

“I’ll be honest with you guys, I _suck_ at memorising lines,” Hajime said.

“I may be able to help you out with that,” Nagito said.

“Hey! Hey, guys!” Akane’s voice called out from around the corner. She came bounding over, and nearly crashed into Hajime and Mikan before skidding to a stop. “I made it!”

“Ah! Hello there, Akane!” Sonia said. “How are you?”

“I’m hungry!” Akane exclaimed. “I even got here a few minutes early so we can start eating sooner.”

Nagito checked his phone, again. “5:57. You’re right!”

“Three whole minutes!” she whooped. “Even with the trip in the way, _nothing_ can keep me separated from a delicious meal!”

“Not even Nekomaru?” Nagito smirked.

“Old Man Nidai’s tough, but even he can’t stop me!” she said proudly. “I’m _un_ stoppable when I’m on the scent! Now come on, guys, there’s _meat_ to be eaten!”

Without waiting for them, she dashed inside the Wendy’s.

“I guess that’s our cue,” Hajime said after a moment.

“I guess so,” Nagito agreed. “Let’s go in!

“Wait! I-I’m paying, you guys!” Mikan said as they went inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki and Nagito for Ultimate BroTP of Class 77.
> 
> Next time: Dinner at Wendy's, featuring Sonia Nevermind.


	10. Fusion's Finest Fare for Feasting Foodies' Fuel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...this is sad.  
>  i'm sad.  
> i miss you.  
>  _~how did this happen?~_

Sonia saw the world larger than life. Nothing was ever just so, never plain or boring, because it was always so _grand._ How could you expect the world to be boring when it was so filled with colour and sound? And especially here, in Japan! Everything was spectacular here! The landmarks, the community, the buildings, the food! It was all so amazing, nothing like Novoselic!

And somehow, when they stepped inside Wendy’s, she found herself blown away all over again!

It. Was. Amazing.

“Oh my gooooosh!” she squealed. “This restaurant is beautiful!”

“Um, Sonia,” Hajime said. “It’s just the line to order.”

“Yeah, the dinin’ room’s upstairs,” Akane said.

“It’s so—it’s so amazing, though!” Sonia said. “This interior design is magnificent.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone describe a Wendy’s as _magnificent_ before,” Hajime muttered behind his hand.

“Hey man, Wendy’s is pretty okay,” Akane said. “They have the _best_ chicken nuggets!”

“We have to try as much of the menu as possible!” Sonia decided. “It would be rude of us to leave one dish untasted!”

“Sonia, there’s no way…” Hajime started to say, but trailed off, glancing at Akane. “Okay, there’s no way _all_ of us can try everything.”

“Regardless, we have to try!” Sonia said. “How much would one of everything cost?”

“Probably over twenty thousand yen,” Hajime said. “It’s not worth it.”

“He’s right Sonia, you would be set with a burger and fries, and that only costs about a thousand yen,” Akane said. “It’s cheap and filling!”

When they got to the register, Sonia _tried_ to order as much as she could off of the menu, but Akane had a hand over her mouth before she could even start. They ordered her a hamburger and fries with a small drink, and then shuttled her upstairs.

As it turned out, upstairs was even better than downstairs! Tables and chairs and everything! And the decor was beautiful! She could spend all day in here marveling at how unfamiliar and beautiful it was!

They sat down not far from the window, and promptly dug in. It was everything Sonia had hoped for: an exotic flavour in an exotic place, a bite of America courtesy of Japan! It was fusion food at its finest!

“Are you enjoying your meal?” Nagito asked her in between bites. He looked as though he was smirking a little. Why was he smirking? Was something funny?

“I’s ekshu’ent!” she said through a mouthful of burger.

“Come again?”

“It’s excellent!” she repeated. “Such a wonderful taste! The sauce they used is delicious!”

“Oh, that’s good to hear!” he said. “I have to agree, this does taste very good.”

“Didn’t I tell ya?!” Akane said. “This place has _super_ good fast food!”

“I was never really too much of a fast food guy,” Hajime admitted. “I prefer bento boxes.”

“Different strokes for different folks!” Akane said. “But you have to admit it’s pretty decent!”

“It’s okay,” he said, “but it’s not my first choice.”

“Suit yourself. Anyway,” she said, “I was thinkin’, guys. You remember how the thing with the freshies went kinda awkward and all?”

“Hard to forget,” Hajime said quietly.

“Well, I was thinkin’, what about getting together with them again soon for a cookout or somethin’?”

“A cookout?” Sonia said. “What sort of a cookout?”

“Y’know! We could have a barbecue out by the baseball diamond at school or somethin’!” Akane said. “We could hang out! It wouldn’t be as weird as last time was.”

“I would like the opportunity to better connect with the lowerclassmen,” Sonia said. “I got the sense that they were a bit off-put by our behaviour on Saturday night.”

“We were pretty rowdy…” Mikan agreed.

“Would a cookout be a good idea?” Hajime asked. “I mean, they might not want to get together with us again for a little while.”

“Oh, nah, nah, this wouldn’t be like, this week or anythin’!” Akane said. “This would be like, a couple weeks from now. Maybe before Golden Week or somethin’.”

“That would be nice!” Sonia said. “It would be a perfect way to start the celebrations of the week!”

“What’re the odds that the other’s’ll wanna do stuff that night?” Hajime wondered.

“High,” Nagito said, nodding his head. “Definitely high.”

“So we do separate things!” Akane said. “We have the cookout after school, then we’d do whatever later!”

“It’s an idea,” Sonia nodded. “I like it! We should consider it.”

“We’d probably have to get approval to have a barbecue on campus, though,” Mikan said.

“Ms. Yukizome would be fine with it!” Akane said. “Remember the first day of school?”

“Th-That was a different thing entirely!”

“She let Teruteru use the grill, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but that was—”

“Then there shouldn’t be any problem! We’ll be fiiine!”

"I-I think you're missing—"

"Don't worry about it, Mikan! It'll be great!"

“I think I might make myself scarce,” Nagito said. “I would hate for it to rain that day.”

“Eh,  yeah, that’s probably a good idea, knowin’ you …”

They finished eating, and parted ways for the night. 

* * *

**Ibuki Mioda**

**Tuesday 5 April, 8:48 PM**

**yoooooo sonia-chan!**

**wyd**

**Nothing much! I’ve finished my homework  
for the evening.**

**What about you?**

**ye me too**

**i have fu an pek over rn**

**wanna com?**

**Sure! I’ll be over in a minute.**

**k and also i have some of th good stuff**

**if u want some**

**wink wink**

**Really? Are Fuyuhiko and Peko okay with  
that?**

**they aint havin any**

**I was going to say! It would be unlike  
them.**

**haha yea**

**wby u wan some?**

**I won’t say no…**

**k ill get som ready for u**

* * *

“Sonia-chaaaan!” Ibuki squealed when Sonia came into her dorm, shooting up and throwing her arms around her. “Hiya!”

“Hello!” Sonia said, glancing around her head to wave at Fuyuhiko and Peko, who were lounging in a bean-bag chair by the bed.

“Heya, Sonia,” Fuyuhiko said. “Long time no see, right?”

“Oh, most definitely,” Sonia laughed. “Hours!”

Ibuki let go. “And this is for yoouuu!” she said, handing Sonia a vape pen. “This is good stuff, so don’t go puffing the whole thing, ‘kay?”

“I won’t, I promise,” Sonia assured her, taking a deep puff.

“Hey, before I forget,” Fuyuhiko said, “Sonia, you said yesterday you needed to check your schedule about goin’ to the park, right?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, that’s right!” she exclaimed. “I think I should be able to go, so long as nothing unexpected comes up.”

“Okay, that’s good,” he nodded. “The more people ditch, the better. That way they _have_ to notice we’re fed up.”

“They got a bad habit of putting their hands over their ears when we do that, though,” Ibuki said.

“Yeah, I _know_ that,” he snapped. “The point is that we won’t be there, Ms. Yukizome will have to report it, and she’ll obviously have something to say to _them_ about it. I can deal with a lecture from her if it means they get one too. And it’s a day at the park, there isn’t anything to complain about with that.”

“Park is good,” Ibuki nodded sagely. “I wanna ride all the rollercoasters this time!”

“Of course you do,” Fuyuhiko sighed. “Half the people in this class all wanna ride the rollercoasters and the big rides, the other half don’t know what the fuck they wanna do.”

“The park isn’t exactly geared for those who prefer less extreme rides,” Peko said. “They have those… dropper things, they have the rollercoasters, but they don’t really have much in the way of low-key rides.”

“They have the arcade, don’t they?” Sonia said. “And there’s also the laser tag and Ferris wheel.”

“I always do laser tag, though,” Fuyuhiko said. “I wanna actually do something different this time.”

“Do you have a map of the park?”

“Nah, I don’t. They probably have one on the site, I’ll look it up later.”

“If I recall correctly, there’s also some water rides,” Peko suggested.

“We’d have to bring a change of clothes.”

“I can bring extra clothes for you.”

“Hm… okay, maybe we’ll try a few of those.”

Ibuki stood up and walked over to her collection of instruments by her desk. “You guys mind if Ibuki strums some tunes?”

“Just no screamo stuff, please,” Fuyuhiko said.

“No worries, Fuyuhiko-chan!” she said, giving him a lazy peace sign. “We’ll keep it chill.”

“Yeah,” he huffed. “Chill. You’re always chill when you’re high.”

“Even ‘buki has to slow down sometimes, y’know?” She grabbed a ukulele and moved back to her seat. “It’s only almost Wednesday. Gotta save my energy for Saturday!”

She started plucking out a quiet, serene melody. Sonia felt another layer of calm wash over her, and a small smile blossomed on her face. “Is this an original, Ibuki?”

“Nah, this is one I picked up from a game,” Ibuki said. “Chiaki-chan kept hummin’ it and I got it stuck in my head.”

The room was quiet for a few moments as Ibuki played. Fuyuhiko’s scowl softened noticeably, and he leaned closer into Peko, who wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Sonia started to sway in time with the beat, slow and fluid.

“Why can’t you play stuff like this more often?” Fuyuhiko asked Ibuki eventually.

“…I dunno,” she said. “This sorta stuff was stuff I always played back in my idol group. That and the pop stuff.”

“Oh, right. And you hated that.”

“N—Nah. Not hated. Just sorta… not Ibuki’s jam, y’know?”

“You didn’t fit in?” Sonia said.

“Yeah, kinda.” Ibuki’s voice was becoming unusually soft, almost like when she was talking to Mikan. “Nobody really wants to hear things that aren’t popular. I tried doing my own thing before the idol group too, but it didn’t really work out, so I got on board with them, and it was okay for a couple of years, but… yeah. Didn’t fit in.”

“That’s a shame,” Peko said. “They lost a talented member.”

“I guess,” Ibuki said. “I mean, I got accepted as the Ultimate Light Music Club member, not the Ultimate Something-Else. I don’t think that the Hope’s Peak people really like my style either.”

“Well, that’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?” Sonia asked. “I mean, after all, you’re undeniably the most talented musician in Japan. I think you’ve earned your title through and through!”

“Yeah, but that’s the issue though, Sonia. I wanna be able to do my own thing, not the light music stuff. Ultimate or not, people don’t like most of my stuff. I mean, Hiyoko-chan is a fan, and that’s cool and all, but how many Hiyokos are in the world?”

“You know what you say to that?” Fuyuhiko said. “Fuck ‘em. Hell, I’m not a fan of your usual music, but I know enough to say that you still deserve some damn respect. Just because you’re not hot stuff on the charts or whatever the hell doesn’t mean you’re not a fucking master at music.”

Ibuki giggled a little at that. “Thanks, Fuyuhiko-chan.”

“Seriously though, you ever get down in the dumps about this shit, just remember that you’re the Ultimate, and they’re just a bunch of boring regular people next to you.”

“…Got it. I’ll try to remember that.”

* * *

An hour or two later, the conversation had shifted wildly. Fuyuhiko and Peko had gone out and brought back some munchies at Sonia’s request, and the energy in the room was slowly winding down as the hour grew later.

“Okay, I’ll be honest here,” Fuyuhiko said. “Out of all the couples that got started in our class, aside from me and Peko, I think that Hajime and Chiaki are honestly the best one.”

“Whaa?” Ibuki said with a bit of shock. “What about me and Mikan, though?”

“I mean, hey, you guys have your own thing going on and it’s cute and all, but Hajime and Chiaki are like, made for each other, you get me? They’re yin and yang.”

“They have strengths that suit the other’s flaws,” Peko said. “That’s always a good thing to have in a relationship. If you’re both similar to too much of an extent, things won’t always work out.”

“Right. Like how I never shut up, but Peko helps me with that,and I help her out with talking more.”

“Exactly. Having two talkative people in a relationship can work, but there has to be at least a few differences between the partners.”

“I agree with that,” Sonia said. “Gundham and I have a similar dynamic. We’re not exactly similar, but we go well together.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Fuyuhiko said, nodding. “I mean, Gundham’s a whole other person just… as a person, but you’re right.”

“What about me and Mikan?” Ibuki asked. “Do we have a good dynamic too?”

“I think you two complement each other,” Sonia said, smiling at Ibuki. “You help bring out her confident side, and she brings out your other qualities behind your usual cheery demeanour.”

“…God, this got really deep,” Fuyuhiko said after a moment. “What the hell even started this stuff, anyway?”

“I dunno,” Ibuki said. “Convos are weird like that, you start at one place and then you end up… freaking miles away.”

“Especially when there’s nothing to do but talk,” Sonia agreed.

“Okay, I’m calling it right now, let’s switch to a less deep topic for the rest of this, okay?” Fuyuhiko said. “Otherwise I’m gonna be up all night thinking about this stuff.”

“Okay, then what should we talk about?” Ibuki asked.

“I dunno. What haven’t we talked about yet?”

“Um…”

“Do we know what the situation is regarding the new class?” Peko asked. 

“Oh!” Sonia exclaimed. “I went out to dinner with a few of the others, and we were thinking of having a Golden Week cookout on campus after school.”

“Golden Week cookout?” Fuyuhiko repeated.

“Yes! We would finish our midterms, and then meet outside on the grounds and celebrate with a barbecue of some sort!”

“That sounds… reasonable,” Peko said. “It would be a relaxed way to reacquaint with them.”

“Yeah, without all of the crazy shit we pulled at the party over the weekend,” Fuyuhiko said, running a hand up his forehead. “This time we could try and not scare them off.”

“But don’t we already have a midterm party thing or somethin’?” Ibuki asked. “I feel like people were talking about a midterm thing.”

“There probably will be a nighttime get-together,” Sonia said, nodding, “but we were thinking an afternoon cookout would be best for the lowerclassmen. And you wouldn’t have to attend both.”

“I’d be down for a cookout,” Fuyuhiko said. “Maybe I’ll do that and skip the night party this time around.”

“Wha?” Ibuki said, tilting her head. “You looked like you were havin’ fun at the last one!”

“Yeah, I had fun and all, but I can’t keep doin’ that, y’know?” he said. “Getting shitfaced catches up eventually.”

“That’s a fair statement,” Sonia said. “I also try to limit my alcohol consumption, given its long-term effects. I am of legal age to drink in Novoselic, but it’s not exactly a habit I want to get into.”

“Yeah, that and the fact that these parties always end up with us waking up feeling absolutely trashed,” he said. “You wake up, and bam, the day already sucks. It’s even worse than just waking up after staying up too late, ‘cause your throat hurts and your head is pounding.”

“This is the best time to do these sorts of things, though!” Ibuki argued. “We won’t be able to enjoy parties like that as much when we’re older.”

“Moderation is all I’m saying,” Fuyuhiko grumbled. “We can keep doing them, but we can’t go overboard. We’re teens, not immortal or some shit.”

“Hey, Peko-chan, you’ve been super quiet, you doing okay?” Ibuki asked after a moment.

“I’m fine,” Peko said. “I just don’t have anything I want to add.”

“Okay!” Ibuki started strumming again on her ukulele, this time something lively and bright. “So, park on Saturday, cookout and party after midterms? Ibuki can get behind that!”

“Excellent!” Sonia said, smiling. “Once everyone has been informed we can work out a time and place for both.”

“Don’t forget, we’re doing the park to piss off the Committee,” Fuyuhiko reminded her. “It’s fun and all, but we’re still ditching.”

“Of course, I hadn’t forgotten about that,” she assured him.

“Okay, good.” He started playing with one of Peko’s pigtails. “Those bastards haven’t gotten with the program yet. They listened to some stuff, but you can tell, they still don’t think of us as actual students. We’re half students, half guinea pigs. I’d like it if we could just cancel Research all together.”

“Hear hear!” Ibuki said. “Research is bullshit. It totally takes away the point of our talents!”

“There are better ways to analyse talent,” Peko said. “It doesn’t do us any good to be subjected to hours of testing every week.”

“Well, I think that if we keep pressuring them, they have to listen eventually,” Sonia said. “It doesn’t look good for them if we keep protesting.”

“That’s for fuckin’ sure,” Fuyuhiko said, smirking mischievously. “The longer we twist their arm, the better. Maybe if we try hard enough, they’ll start coughing up other stuff too, like what the hell they’re doing with Hajime.”

“Yeah, Ibuki would love to know that!” Ibuki said. “He’s so secretive about it!”

_“They’re_ so secretive about it, too,” he said. “The whole thing reeks of something big, y’know?”

“Didn’t he say he could tell us after the summer?” Sonia said. “It might not even be worth it to try and find out sooner. Summer’s not that far from now.”

“She has a point,” Peko said. “The summer term will be over by September.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “I’d just like it if we didn’t have to wait and see.”

“I understand. Having these things hidden from us bothers me too.”

“Well, one of these days, they won’t have anything left to hide, right?” Ibuki laughed. “They’ll get with it soon enough.”

“Ibuki’s right!” Sonia said. “We can get them to stop putting us up to leaping through all these hoops! It’ll just take a little time.”

“I hope so,” Fuyuhiko said. “One year was bad enough, I’d like to get this done before we get into year three, y’know?”

“We will,” Sonia said, holding up a fist in certainty. “We have what it takes!”

“Glad we all agree.”

* * *

Sonia returned to her room at about 11:30, feeling fairly content. Some of it was probably the marijuana in her system, but a lot of it came from the joy that came with being with her friends.  She always felt so much better after being with them. They made her happier than anybody else ever had. She felt like they truly understood her.

They did, really, she thought as she got ready for bed. They saw her for who she was: a girl who just so happened to be a princess, not _the_ Princess Nevermind of Novoselic. It was nice to cast aside that part of her and just enjoy being with others her age without status in the way.

With those happy thoughts in her head, she got ready to go to sleep. Before long, she was wrapped in her covers, and was slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The morning greeted her with the sun shining directly into her face. With a sigh, she got herself out of bed and checked her phone.

**Gundham 04:57  
We must remember to ask Yukizome-sensei what the Headmaster’s verdict is regarding our cult’s supervision.**

Oh, that was right! Hopefully Ms. Yukizome had found out.

**Gundham**

**Wednesday 6 April, 07:03**

**I will ask her first thing.**

**I don’t think it should be a problem.**

**We shall see…**

**If his answer is negative, we will have  
to resort to… other measures.**

**Gundham, no. We will not have to  
unleash hellfire.**

**Unleashing hellfire will not help.**

**It is merely a suggestion!**

**It seems there is never an opportune  
moment to unleash hellfire here…**

**Your moment will come!**

**I’ll see you in a little bit~**

**Be safe.**

What a sweet man. Under all that flashy (albeit attractive) bravado, he was just like the rest of them.

She got ready and out the door with any trouble—although on the walk to the main building, she remembered that today was the next Research day. _Groan._ Couldn’t they have kept it at one hour instead of stacking the lost hours on top?

Her phone started buzzing earnestly the closer she got to homeroom. She was half-tempted to check what was going on, but opted to just put her phone on silent. Too much time spent looking at that screen wasn’t good for anybody.

When she entered the classroom, Gundham and Nekomaru were already present. “Good morning, Nekomaru!” she said, waving.

“Hey!” Nidai boomed. “How’s it goin’?!”

“I’m well!” she said. “Looking forward to Saturday already!”

“Oh, you’re going—I mean, you’re doing the thing too?”

“Mm-hm! I should be free!”

“Gahahaha!” he crowed. “Excellent! The more players, the better!”

“What event are you referring to?” Gundham asked.

“Did you not check the group chat, Gundham?” Sonia said. “Everyone is planning getting together on Saturday.”

“I don’t recall seeing anything on the subject…”

“It should be on there.”

He checked his phone. “…Ah. I see. This device kept interrupting me while I was performing a delicate ritual that I needed full concentration for. I had to silence it.” He frowned as he read through the messages. “This will not be possible for me. I must keep to my dark studies.”

“Can you do your dark studying, uh… not _here,_ then?” Nekomaru said. “Like, in your room or something?”

“Indeed, the manifesto Kuzuryuu proposes is compelling,” Gundham mused. “I may not be able to participate in this in body, but certainly I can in spirit.” He let out a dark chuckle. “And of course, my spirit is stronger than my body, so it matters not where it is!”

“That’s good to hear!” Sonia said. “That makes this a little easier.”

“Makes what a little easier?”

“Oh! Hi, Hiyoko!” Sonia said. “We were discussing our Saturday engagement.”

Hiyoko rolled her eyes as she shuffled to her desk. “Jeez… everybody’s so excited about this. What’s the big deal? It’s not like it’s gonna make a huge difference.”

“It sends a message!” Sonia said. “I think it could lead to greater change for us!”

“Yeah, sure. Which way, the way where we get in trouble or the way where nothing actually happens?”

“Come on, Saionji, get into the team spirit a little!” Nekomaru shouted. “You gotta go all-in with us if you want it to work!”

“Are you even listening to me, you chump?” Hiyoko snapped. “I just said it won’t! If we want to get those jerks’ attention, going to the stupid park won’t do anything.”

“Then what would you suggest instead?” Sonia prompted. “If you believe we need a stronger approach.”

“I don’t fucking know!” Hiyoko said. “I haven’t thought about it that hard.”

“Well, if you come up with something, please let us know,” Sonia said. “I’d like this to be resolved quickly.”

“Don’t we all…”

* * *

“…and yes, believe me, I know, I know, everybody in here is sick to the teeth of the Research shuffle, but you still have to go,” Ms. Yukizome said. “It’s a lot of trial-and-error at first with this year, but you’ll find something that works.”

“What do we do in the meantime, then?” Fuyuhiko asked. “Do we have to keep dealing with shit that isn’t in our wheelhouse until _they_ figure it out?”

“If it isn’t working out after next week, then I think you can tell them that,” she said. “Until then, give them some time to figure things out themselves. They’re not Hope’s Peak faculty for nothing, you know.”

“That used to mean a little more before we started attending,” Mahiru said.

“Anyway! Let’s move on to other subjects, shall we?” Ms. Yukizome chirped. “Great! So, starting next week, it’ll be time to start thinking about signing up for clubs. You’re expected to join at least one, but you can join multiple if you have the time and energy available. Club listings will be posted on Friday on the bulletin board in the main hall and also in the cafeteria.”

“Oh, Ms. Yukizome!” Sonia interrupted, raising her hand. “Did you find out from the headmaster whether Reserve Course teachers can supervise clubs?”

“Yes, I did!” Ms. Yukizome said. “You’ll need his approval, but as long as you get that, then yes, Reserve Course teachers are allowed to supervise.”

“Thank you, Ms. Yukizome!”

“You’re welcome! Anything else, guys?”

“Yeah, when do sports start?” Ibuki asked.

“Same time as clubs, Ibuki. They’ll be posted in the same places.”

“Cool, thanks.”

“Alright. That’s about it for announcements today, everyone. We’ve got a few minutes left before you have to go to classes, so just… talk amongst yourselves for a bit!”

Sonia swiveled to face Gundham. “That’s good! We shouldn’t have any problems getting the club started!”

“Excellent!” Gundham rumbled. “This day promises to be ripe with glory for us!”

“I guess this means Hajime will be responsible for scouting out someone to supervise,” Nagito commented.

“Yes, it will,” Sonia nodded. “Could one of you let him know?”

“On it,” Nagito said.

“Now all we require is a location,” Gundham said. “If I recall, we were to inquire if the kitchens were available?”

“Yes, that’s right!” Sonia said. “I’ll ask Teruteru when I get a chance later.”

“Very well. I shall… see if I can locate that pink-garbed witch from before. Much as her trickery irks me, it would be beneficial to form an alliance with her.”

“Perhaps that might smooth things over a little with you two as well?”

“I am not inclined to agree just yet,” Gundham said. “Two powerful sorcerers in the same room can lead to great success… or great failure. I will be willing to extend an olive branch if she agrees to recognize the boundaries we set forth.”

“I think it’ll work,” Sonia said, smiling.

“Your optimism is both refreshing and admirable, in these dark times.”

* * *

The morning passed fairly uneventfully. English was difficult as always—why was it that Japanese had come so readily to her, but English, which was much more related to Novoselian in comparison, refused to make sense in her head?—but she managed to muddle through without sounding like a complete fool. Mahiru and Peko had graciously helped her out when she got stuck on the adjective placement worksheet, and she promised to repay their kindness in study hall. After that was History, which she did a hell of a lot better in than English. Going through what had happened 50 years ago was a lot easier than trying to speak a foreign language.

Then, at lunchtime, things became a little more interesting.

She was sitting outside the main building, near the courtyard, when her phone started ringing. Curious, she picked it up. It was Kazuichi. He was calling her. What on Earth was prompting this? She cautiously decided to answer.

“Kazuichi?”

“There’s a Reserve student on our side of campus.”

“Really?”

“They just walked in a minute ago.”

“Where?”

“They went through the main gate.”

“How nice! It’s good to hear that they’re making use of their new privileges.”

“Ms. Sonia, that’s not just it. They look pissed.”

“Really? Why?”

“I dunno, but they were heading toward the main building with a mean scowl goin’ on.”

“…I wonder where they’re going.”

“Me too. That’s why I’m callin’ everyone. They’re probably doing more than just strolling around.”

“You’re calling _everyone?”_

“It’s news, Ms. Sonia! Everybody’s gonna wanna hear about this!”

“Mm… Alright, but let’s not sensationalise anything yet.”

“I gotcha, don’t worry. I’m just spreadin’ the word.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.”

She hung up, frowning in thought. The first Reserve student was on the Ultimate campus now, and they were headed for the main building. Were they going to talk to someone? Probably. Who, though?

She decided to pick up her lunch and move to the front of the building to get a better look at what could be going on.

* * *

When she got there, she saw most of her classmates had also assembled. Mahiru and Hiyoko were whispering to each other intensely, eyes on the doors, and Fuyuhiko and Peko were both boring through the glass with their stares. Everyone else was similarly keeping an eye on the doors while attempting to act natural.

She approached Mahiru and Hiyoko first. “Any idea what’s going on?”

“Well, no, not exactly,” Mahiru said. “All we know is a Reserve went inside shooting daggers at everyone they passed.”

“500 yen says they’re here to make a scene,” Hiyoko said. “Most of them are still really pissed off with the school.”

“I would have to agree with you on that point,” Sonia said. “Do we know who it is?”

“No,” Mahiru said, shaking her head.

“Hmm…”

“Do you think they’re going up to the headmaster’s office?” Hiyoko whispered.

“Probably,” Mahiru said. “Now that they’ve got unrestricted access. It’s where I’d go if I was a Reserve too.”

“How long ago did they go in?”

“Just a couple minutes ago.”

“Hey, guys, wanna look a little more suspicious?” Fuyuhiko called out from the other side of the doors.

“Shut up, jerk!” Hiyoko yelled. “We all look suspicious right now!”

“Well, y’know, you’re not helping us out by huddling up and whispering like a bunch of gossip hogs!” he shot back. “Maybe at least _act_ like we’re not all here to see what the hell’s going on?”

“Fuck you!”

Still, they moved apart a little and resumed eating their lunches. Hiyoko kept glaring over at Fuyuhiko on and off, earning her a disapproving look from Mahiru. Kazuichi showed up a few minutes later, sitting with Chiaki and Hajime. “Anything happen yet?” he ‘whispered.’ Hajime shushed him and muttered something that Sonia couldn’t hear.

“Okay, this is starting to get a little bit dull,” Hiyoko said after another five minutes of waiting. “If something’s gonna happen, it better happen soon, otherwise I’m moving back to the baseball diamond.”

“Well, now that you’ve said that, something’s _bound_ to happen,” Mahiru said with a hint of sarcasm.

And of course, Mahiru’s statement turned out to be entirely correct. Less than half a minute later, the doors opened, and a blonde Reserve girl stormed out. She made it halfway through the clump of Ultimates before she noticed them and paused. “What the fuck are you all looking at?!”

“Wait a sec—Natsumi?!”

Fuyuhiko stood up from his spot. “The fuck you doin’ over here like this?”

“I’m using my _privileges,_ Fuyuhiko!” she barked. “I figured that since I’m allowed on campus I’d make use of that and go and tell the assholes up there what I’ve been saying all last year!”

“And how did that go, sis?” Fuyuhiko snarked, crossing his arms.

“How do you think?! They didn’t wanna hear a word I had to say to them! They told me to get lost!”

“I’m not fucking surprised, Natsumi! That’s what happens if you go in guns blazing like that!”

“Fuck you, Fuyuhiko!”

Natsumi turned and marched away, swearing like a sailor under her breath.

“…Well, shit,” Fuyuhiko said eventually.

“That was your sister?” Teruteru said with surprise.

“Yeah, that was fucking Natsumi, dipshit!” Fuyuhiko snapped. “Goddamnit, that’s the last thing I needed to deal with today…”

“I can talk to her, if you want,” Peko offered.

“No, leave her alone. She’s fucking pissed, she won’t listen to anything right now.”

“She’s not the only one,” Hajime sighed. “There’s a lot of Reserve students who were probably thinking of doing the same thing.”

“Oh joy,” Hiyoko growled. “So now we have to deal with them fucking things up for us too?”

“This is last year all over again,” Fuyuhiko groaned. “The Reserves hate us and the Committee, we hate the Committee, the Committee hates us and the Reserves. In this equation, we equal _fucked._ Again.”

“So we do what we did last time,” Chiaki said. “We figure out a way to work together and make the Committee listen to us.”

“I don’t think it’ll be that easy this time,” Mahiru said. “Those guys will only bend so far before they stop listening altogether.”

“Y-Yeah,” Mikan nodded. “Last year was really hard to do already…”

“Maybe we gotta go rogue on this one,” Akane said. “Make some noise and get ‘em to move!”

“I agree!” Nekomaru said. “If they’re not gonna move, we gotta try that much harder!”

“I agree!” Sonia said. “We should continue our efforts! It may be more difficult, but it’s worth it!”

“All the more reason to do the park, I guess,” Fuyuhiko muttered.

“…Man, can’t the school just let us be normal high-schoolers for once?” Kazuichi said after a moment.

Everybody grumbled their agreement to that, and broke off back to their old lunch spots.

* * *

Going into Research following that scene made Sonia a little bit nervous. She didn’t know if the specialists would have anything to say, or if they’d even heard, but she decided to err on the side of caution. There wasn’t much to be gained by telling them what she and the other students thought about it.

“How are you feeling today, Ms. Nevermind?” Dr. Kokiso asked her when she walked in.

“A bit stressed,” she admitted. “English today was difficult.”

“That’s understandable,” Dr. Kokiso nodded. “Learning another language is always a challenge. I bet you would know that even better than I do.”

She managed to give him a polite laugh for that, but it was very, very disingenuous.

The period passed without incident, and she didn’t hear a word about Natsumi from them. They were all still completely focused on her. They seemed to think she was meeting expectations with the student-teacher track they had her on, and to be fair to them, it wasn’t terrible for her. Compared to the others, she figured she had gotten lucky and matched with a field that actually suited her interests as well as her skills.

Halfway in, during their ten-minute break, Dr. Kokiso asked, “Ms. Nevermind, I’m curious—how do you view this class, personally?”

“Me?” she said. “Well… I think it is ultimately beneficial. It helps us to figure out what works for us with regards to our Talents. It’s helped me grow as a person.”

Dr. Kokiso smiled a little. “…Is that all you think?”

“No,” she admitted. “My friends and I all share a concern that the way this class is conducted could be improved. For instance, this segment is proving difficult for a lot of them, since it is moving away from their Ultimate talent, and they’re not used to that. So… there are issues, but I think it ultimately helps us.”

“Hm.” Dr. Kokiso nodded thoughtfully. “Interesting. The reason I asked you this is because your teacher came to us yesterday voicing some of your friends’ concerns, and I just wanted to hear from you what you thought.”

“I see.”

“We’ve received similar feedback from a lot of the previous classes too,” he said. “This stage takes some time to get used to, but we’ve gotten better with each year. I’d say if you give it a month, maybe until Golden Week, it won’t be as unnatural for you all.”

“I’ll pass that on.”

Dr. Kokiso smiled. “Thank you for understanding. It wouldn’t be called Research if we knew exactly what we were looking for.”

“Of course not.”

* * *

She left the Science building with a lot of swirling thoughts in her head. The morning had only started with talk about the baking club and getting together at the park on Saturday in an act of typical teenage rebellion. Now Natsumi had crossed into the Ultimate Campus, who Hajime had warned was not the only Reserve student still angry at the school, and the Research specialists had already started trying to smooth over the ruffled feathers she and her classmates had. She found herself agreeing with Kazuichi on this one: couldn’t they just be normal teenagers for once? With normal high school problems instead of all the problems that Hope’s Peak came with?

She bumped into Gundham on the way to therapy, and he sensed her dour mood right away. “You have a grim air about you,” he commented as they walked to the elevator in the main building.

“It’s been three days and already everybody wishes they were back on vacation,” she sighed. “Myself included.”

“It is a shared sentiment,” he said. “The dark energies of the school are hard at work, already stirring the emotions of our compatriots. It will be difficult to ignore it, or to change it.”

“Hopefully it’ll get easier soon,” she said.

“We are Ultimates,” he said reassuringly. “There is little that we cannot overcome!”

“That true,” she said, smiling slightly. “And there’s the baking club.”

“Indeed! That will serve as a pleasant distraction whilst we craft a curse that can break this hold the powers that be have on this school! And perhaps, if we recruit enough members, we can use them to help us further our greater goals.”

“Let’s not get too carried away, we don’t want to scare them off…”

* * *

She felt a lot better when she finally got back to her room. Now she could have a few hours to herself, away from all the noise, and relax. Well, after homework, at least…

As she slowly burned her way through her English (while trying not to take that too literally and actually _burn_ her English homework, tempting though it was), her phone buzzed. She spared a quick glance.

**Teruteru 19:26  
Class Group Message  
if anybody’s interested, i’ve got a tray of fresh-made tempura waitin for hungry customers ;)**

Damn you, Hanamura, and your delicious Japanese dishes!

Sonia took a look at her progress. Five sentences left to complete, two spaces each.

…She could afford an hour or two helping clean that tray.

She put down her pencil, grabbed her phone, and left the room.

**A plate for me, please!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is crimmas ~~nope~~  
>  merr crismuth ~~shit~~  
>  merry crisis ~~dammit~~  
>  merry chrysler ~~SHIT~~
> 
> Merry Christmas
> 
> Next time: The ripples start to make some waves.


End file.
